Redemption's Side
by H-san
Summary: He took lives. He killed thousands. Now, he will become like one of them... New chapters are up!
1. The Final Punishment

**Redemption's Side**

**Disclaimer: **Dragonball Z and all its characters © Akira Toriyama, BIRD STUDIO/SHUEISHA, TOEI Animation. Licensed by FUNimation Production, Ltd. All Rights Reserved

**Disclaimer 2: **All fictional character © Eileen Ayling Setiawan (author) and any alias she assumes (H-san, Hina-chan, etc…)

**Author's Note:** This takes place _after_ the first part of Masshiro na Yuki: Pure White Snow, my fanfiction about Kinoko, the female Saiya-jin. It's a filler of sorts.

**Author's Note 2: **This was inspired by vege-chan from deviantArt.

* * *

**Prologue:** The Final Punishment

* * *

**S.I.N.** : abbreviation of "Soothing your Inner Nastiness", a program designed to heal the wounds of the antagonists in Hell by appointing them ogre psychiatrists and talking over their problems. The 'y' in 'your' is not included as it is a lesser word compared to the other three; therefore, the abbreviation is, ironically, S.I.N.

* * *

The Blood Lake never looked so beautiful as the sheen of the sun glinted on its bloody red surface. Spirits, which appeared to look like clouds, floated by on their way to the "Spring Carnival", despite the fact that there was no such thing as seasons in Hell. Some turned to look at the strange congregation of antagonists, each with a respective ogre. If they had faces, their brows would most likely be cocked at the strange scene.

"Hn, so how do you feel about that?" said an ogre with slicked blonde hair.

The antagonist with the ogre, the Changeling known as Frieza, started sniffing uncontrollably.

"My brother never loved me!" he cried, tears spilling forth from his eyes.

The ogre reached out, giving him a sympathetic pat on the back.

"It's okay Frieza. It's okay, let it all out."

Somewhere further away, a green-skinned, insect-looking man rolled his eyes and scoffed.

"Baka… how could he succumb to such… idiocy…" he mumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I don't think it's that… bad…" replied his appointed therapist, a tenacious ogre who called herself Jaena. She tossed back her wavy blue hair, signifying she was feeling cool and collected at the moment.

"Urusei…" mumbled Cell.

Jaena's hair went up in flames, turning a fiery red.

"Oi! I was _trying_ to be positive!"

Cell rolled his eyes, scoffing at such childish behaviour.

"This whole… program is stupid. You can't possibly _change_ someone!"

"You can! Have you seen Dabura? He's changed dramatically!" argued Jaena.

"Through manipulation," debated Cell coolly.

Jaena twitched.

"Why was I _ever_ appointed you?"

Cell grunted, turning his face away. Recently, Cell had been recruited into the program called "Soothing your Inner Nastiness", ironically abbreviated as S.I.N. Because of this, Cell had to undergo psychiatric help by his appointed therapist Jaena, a temperamental ogre whom loved nothing more than to give Cell a hard time. It had been eighteen weeks, and still, Jaena was having a hard time getting into the psyche of this cloistered individual. And in another two weeks she had to report to Yama-sama.

"Cell. Is there anything you want to say?" asked the ogre, trying to calm down, her hair turning purple as she was in the transitional phase.

Cell sighed.

"This is ridiculous…"

"Would you rather be in the cell with those Ginyu guys and the Changelings, or out here, where you can relax for a little while?"

Cell considered the two choices, knowing the answer was the latter. Despite the fact that all of them had the same evil intentions, the Changelings and Ginyu Force were constantly complaining. Why couldn't he have been in a cell on his own? He sighed, knowing what the ogre meant.

Jaena smirked, writing that down on her Progress Report.

* * *

Two weeks were up. Time to reap the rewards of her hard work. With the folder pressed to her chest, Jaena walked forward, her high heels clicking sharply against the marble floor of the Check-in Station. Yama-sama sat at his desk, signing papers and generally looking bored at the job he was assigned to.

_I could've been the God of Thunder, but no… I'm just the Check-in God…_ thought Yama-sama, scratching another name off the long list in front of him. It seemed everyday people were dying.

_Hasn't anyone ever heard of a healthy lifestyle?_ Yama-sama sighed once, again. His eyes were then dragged up to the ogre approaching him.

"Ah, Jaena, there you are," stated the god. "You're 15 minutes late."

Jaena broke into a slight cold sweat.

"Well, ano… I was just getting ready to see you oh Supreme Lord."

Yama-sama hummed thoughtfully.

"Yes, I can see you are well-presented. I'll forgive you this once, since it was the first time you were late."

Jaena sighed inwardly. She then smiled up at Yama-sama.

"Well, after 20 weeks of assessing my client, Cell, for the S.I.N. program, I have found these results," began Jaena. She opened the folder, handing them to another ogre nearby.

The other ogre placed the papers into a contraption, which whirred when the paper was put into the feeding slot, and immediately, shot out from a similar contraption on Yama-sama's desk. He picked up the enlarged pieces of paper, reading the print on the white surface.

"Hn, his progress seems… interesting."

Jaena nodded.

"Growing up with no parent figures, and conditioned to "eat" his own brother and sister, and even kill one of them, Cell has had a very deprived childhood. He has no memories of his past, and states that he believes friends are a ridiculous waste of time."

"Yes… he has a strange pattern of emotional responses to these words."

"Yes, Cell can be very… ano… disruptive when it comes to terms relating to family. It seemed he also believes they are a ridiculous waste of time. He believes his "father", Dr. Gero, was, and I quote, a pathetic old man with no life, end quote."

Yama-sama nodded, stroking his black beard. He placed the paper down, looking down at Jaena.

"Jaena, you have made significant assessments on Cell, but has he made any changes?"

Jaena shook her head.

"My Lordship, Cell believes he cannot change. He is disillusioned and disconnected. I believe he needs a boost in the right direction."

Yama-sama nodded once again, musing.

"Jaena, you are correct. And I believe I can give him that push. How does the "Final Punishment" sound to you?"

Jaena gasped.

"But… Yama-sama… is not that forbidden?"

Yama-sama gave a hearty laugh.

"Forbidden to all but me! I am, after all, the Check-in God!"

Jaena bowed slightly.

"If you say so, your Lordship. I wonder though. What are the conditions?"

Yama-sama gave a smirk.

"You will have to find out on your own, Jaena."

* * *

Cell held a deep scowl on his face as he was roughly awoken from his night slumber. Jostled around by the ogre guards, a bag was forced over Cell's head and some contraption that seemed to diminish his life force significantly. He was led a great distance, being pushed up what he knew to be stairs.

_When was there ever stairs in this godforsaken place?_ Asked Cell, careful not to trip over a step. With a grunt, Cell was then thrown up. He saw stars as the blindfold was taken off him. He blinked rapidly, his pink eyes getting used to the light that streamed through and burned his retina.

"Hello Cell," said a familiar, deep voice.

Cell's eyes went wide as he looked up, coming face-to-face with a grinning Yama-sama.

"What?" yelled Cell.

Yama-sama gave a big hearty laugh, grabbing the android by the head and yanking him on his feet. He then ordered an ogre to bring him to the ground floor.

"No need to panic. I just need to talk about some arrangement that your therapist and I have discussed during the last meeting we had concerning your psychological analysis."

Cell cocked a brow.

"You what?"

Again, Yama-sama laughed.

"Well," he began, ignoring the question. "First off, we believe you need to become more emotionally inclined. Second, we believe you need to receive those emotions in return."

Cell stared at the god incredulously.

"Because of this, Jaena and I have arranged to give you the "Final Punishment"," continued Yama-sama.

Cell started to become confused.

"Are you willing?" asked Yama-sama. He saw the confused expression. "No need to worry Cell, it won't hurt… much. Anyway, we've already arranged everything, so no point asking your opinions!" Yama-sama gave another hearty laugh.

"_Final Punishment?"_ Cell thought. He did not like the sound of that.

Yama-sama pulled up his sleeves.

"Well, here we go!" He encircled his hands around Cell, who looked on in confusion.

A bright light engulfed the Android, blinding him and causing him to close his eyes. Then, the pain started. Cell cried out as he felt his muscles stiffen and shrivel, growing smaller. With this decrease in muscle size, his bones constricted, forced inward with the muscle. He felt the tissues follow suit, also decreasing in size. Soon after, he could feel his flesh bubbling and burning, as if acid had been slathered on his entire body. He watched with horrified eyes as the green and black spots shrivelled away into cream and pink. His fingernails shrunk inwards, causing him to clench his fists in pain, and watch as they became blunt. He tossed his head back in agony as his wings wrenched inward, drawing into his back and leaving no residue of the formation. The skin where the wings were attached to his back bubbled and brewed, forming creamy flesh. It continued down, rippling to his lower spine. He gripped his head with his newly formed hands, feeling the cone-like formations wrench into his skull. He screamed in pain, gripping his head harder as he felt something hirsute form under his clenched fists. His eyes seared with pain as his retina changed, and the pale skin upon his face bubbled and boiled like the rest of his flesh. The final searing of pain came when he felt himself shrinking, the bones compressing and bringing with it the rest of his body. A final scream of pain benchmarked the ending of the beginning of the "Final Punishment".

Sweating and panting, Cell stood on all fours, looking down at the marble floor of the Check-in Station. He slowly fell back onto his knees, eyes closed and waiting for the pain to die.

"See. Not much pain," he heard Yama-sama say through the darkness.

Slowly, Cell opened his eyes, seeing Yama-sama smirking down at him. A dark swell of anger rose within him.

"NOT MUCH! THAT WAS THE MOST PAINFUL THING I HAVE ENDURED SINCE THAT BASTARD SAIYA-JIN GOHAN BLEW ME UP!" yelled Cell. Immediately, his hands flew to his throat. He sounded odd. He sounded… younger. "What in the Hell…?"

Yama-sama let out another hearty laugh. Then, a flash of light caused Cell to blink dumbly for several minutes before clearing. He looked to Yama-sama, who held what looked like a camera.

"Ah yes. Priceless. Absolutely priceless. I shall put this onto my wall." He looked at a Polaroid picture, smiling with a smug joy.

Cell's eyes lowered dangerously.

"Why you…" Cell ran forward, but fell clumsily onto the floor as he realised his legs were still smarting from his previous torture. He got up, staring at the god… until a chuckle was heard behind him. Cell turned his head towards the sound, seeing the ogress Jaena.

"Oh Cell, you look so much better that way."

Cell looked at the ogress, perplexed.

"What are you…?"

The ogress walked over to the Android, searching for something in her purse. Finding it, she smiled. It was a compact mirror. She opened it, and handed it to her client. Cell snatched the mirror off her, looking at it and almost scared to look into his reflection.

Scared? Why was he scared? That was purely an emotion Cell would never feel.

Holding the mirror up, he noticed the creaminess of his hands. Then he noticed the appearance of his face.

_Kuso…_ thought Cell, his eyes wide with horror at the reflection before him. His once grey palsy skin was now replaced with a creamy flesh. Green brows framed his pink-coloured eyes, and green bangs covered his forehead in the appearance of a fringe. His free hand moved to touch his face, feeling the smooth, soft surface. Facial markings marked either side of his face, forming two sevens reflecting one another. He then noticed his hands. Dropping the mirror, he looked at both of them, seeing the lines, shapes and forms of his newly formed hands. He clenched them, seeing the blackened, blunt fingernails. Looking down at his hands, he noticed the rest of his body. He pressed his hands against his chest, feeling the creamy flesh of his pectorals and abdomen. He noticed he had decreased in body size and muscle mass.

His head snapped up to Yama-sama, who admired his fine craftsmanship.

"What did you do to me!" yelled Cell.

"I gave you the "Final Punishment". If you pass this, you will be rewarded your old body, and your freedom. However, if you fail, it is more than likely that you will stay in this body and live on Earth for the remainder of your days. During your stay, you will be guided by Jaena here…"

Jaena sighed despairingly, but nodded.

"… In the guise of what humans call "shoulder angels". This means that no one can see her, only you. I suggest you only talk to her when you are alone, otherwise many will see you as a crazy man."

"What am I to do on Earth?" asked Cell, becoming hysterical.

Yama-sama laughed. He seemed to be enjoying this.

"You shall have to conduct 210 good deeds."

"210?" echoed Cell.

Yama-sama nodded.

"Yes, each number representing your family members."

"I have no family members!"

"Yes you do. Android 8, Androids 13, 14 and 15, Android 16, Android 17, Android 18, and Androids 19 and 20."

Cell stared incredulously.

"You imbecile. I am a creation. I have no family!"

"I am only trying to help. Are you ready Jaena?"

"Yes, Yama-sama."

"Fantastic! Let's get going then." Yama-sama clapped his hands together, causing both Jaena and Cell to glow yellow. As both started to oscillate and pulsate, Cell yelled out his last words to Yama-sama:

"You can't do this!"

With an explosion, both disappeared. Yama-sama laughed.

"I love my job…" he muttered satisfactorily.


	2. The First Day of the Rest of Your Life

**Redemption's Side**

**Disclaimer: **Dragonball Z and all its characters © Akira Toriyama, BIRD STUDIO/SHUEISHA, TOEI Animation. Licensed by FUNimation Production, Ltd. All Rights Reserved

**Disclaimer 2: **All fictional character © Eileen Ayling Setiawan (author) and any aliases she assumes (H-san, Hina-chan, etc…)

**Author's Note:** This takes place _after_ the first part of Masshiro na Yuki: Pure White Snow, my fanfiction about Kinoko, the female Saiya-jin. It's a filler of sorts.

**Author's Note 2: **This was inspired by vege-chan from deviantArt.

* * *

**Chapter One: **The First Day of the Rest of Your Life

* * *

**U.S. Military : **a popular brand of clothing known for its army motif. They are inspired by the military style; however, add flair to an otherwise plain piece of apparel. This brand is only second to the popular Capsule Corp. style of clothing, however, unlike CC's diverse range; the U.S. Military brand fills a niche in the market.

* * *

Cell landed on Earth, the smell of day-old garbage and urine polluting his senses. He coughed, one eye forced shut from the smell and his hands pressed over his mouth and nose as he tried to rid his senses of this disgusting odour. He looked forward, seeing a busy, bustling street ahead of him. People walked by, laughing and going about their daily business. He stumbled forward, heading towards the light. However, just as he was about to reach fresh, clean air, Jaena appeared on his shoulder, tutting.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," she said, wagging a finger and giving him a sly look. "I wouldn't if I were you."

Cell's eyes lowered, annoyed at the meddling of this woman.

"This place reeks. I need air!" he snapped, whacking her with a wave of his hand.

She screamed, soaring into the distance. A minute later, she appeared before him, her hair aflame.

"Don't do that!" she yelled, her fists bunched up at her sides and her legs apart as she glared death and dagger at the young man.

He smirked, clearly enjoying her anger. However, the smirk was wiped off his face as her hair went abruptly blue and she gave a smirk of her own.

"Look down bug-boy," she said, her expression sly once again.

Cell looked confused as his eyes trailed slowly down. A visible blush spread across his cheeks as the human-part of him realised his indecent public display. Unconsciously, his hand reached out and grabbed the lid off a trashcan, placing it over his nether regions. Once again, Cell glared at his ogress therapist, whom beamed with triumph.

"Baka…" he mumbled.

Jaena glared, but refrained her hair from bursting into flames. Instead, she sighed, and disappeared into pocket space. Cell blinked, momentarily stunned.

"H-hey… I…" Cell looked around. He then scoffed. "I don't need her help…" He walked forward, bracing himself for his first encounter with Earth.

* * *

A vein of annoyance was visible upon Cell's head as he walked through the streets, many staring at the naked man. Some scoffed, others giggled, some were embarrassed to look at him. He still held the lid to his frontal nether regions, yet he could feel all eyes on his backside. As he passed a group of girls, they giggled. He overheard one of them say something about a "cute butt", which strangely made him blush. He shook his head vigorously and walked faster.

Embarrassment? Surely such a being as him could not feel embarrassment.

Preposterous!

As he continued to stride, a noticeboard caught his attention. He stopped short, looking up and seeing the words 'Tenkaichi Budoukai' flash across the screen high above the tall building. He had heard of that before, the World Martial Arts Tournament. No doubt certain _people_ would be there. He smirked, wondering if he could make some trouble of his own.

Jaena interrupted his musings.

"I don't think so," she said matter-of-factly, standing on his shoulder with her arms crossed.

Cell looked to her, once again getting annoyed. "Whaddya want?" he snapped.

"If you go to the Tournament, you'll only invoke emotions of hatred, which will consume you and hinder you from progressing. It's a true fact that hatred is a strong emotion, an emotion that is best that you don't –" Jaena's psychobabble was cut short as Cell absently waved his hand in her direction, once again sending the ogress flying into the distance.

He continued to walk, stopping abruptly in front of a store called "Bob's Boutique: Men's Clothes with Flair". He cocked a brow, looking at the mannequins on display. He looked down at the clothes marked 15 off. A smirk played on his face.

"This will count in your assessment, you know," said a voice in his left ear.

Cell rolled his eyes and waved his hands over his left ear, satisfied as a scream could be heard getting farther into the distance. His eyes shifted left and right, finding that very few passed by. Reaching out, he grabbed a speckled-looking shirt and black pants, fleeing as he heard a yell from inside the shop. He continued to run, hearing the sound of the man behind him. He looked behind his shoulder, seeing a round-looking man follow after him, his run looking more like a wobble.

_Piece o'cake…_ thought Cell. He tried to summon his ki as he ran, trying to raise himself off the ground. Then it hit him… he could not fly. A giggle resounded from his right ear this time.

"Told you…" she said, her voice mocking.

He growled, throwing the trashcan lid over his shoulder to hit her. He heard a yell from behind as the man after him nearly tripped on the rolling lid. At least that bought him time _and_ got rid of the annoying ogress. He looked forward, seeing a fire escape. Taking his chance, he jumped onto a raised platform, a fire hydrant, and lunged towards the ladder. The ladder slid down, coming to an abrupt stop, as Cell scrambled up. He then climbed up the stairs, hearing the clanging of metal as the man chased after him.

"Doesn't this guy give up…" he mumbled, reaching the top platform. He looked around… dead end. "Kuso…" He looked down, seeing the man racing up, his face red and his chest heaving. Looking up, he saw the roof. Immediately, he could feel his brain whirring for an idea. He saw the windowsill, the pipe, the roof, and then, he took action.

Cell put a step onto the windowsill. He used it as leverage, pushing himself off from it. Next thing he knew, he was soaring. But as he reached out, it seemed the "other" side of him was not happy with this choice. A surge of panic bubbled in his stomach, nearly causing Cell to miss the pipe. Luckily, he grabbed it, gripping tightly. He looked to his left, where he had jumped from, seeing the man who was after him with bulging eyes as if astonished with what had just happened.

"Thanks for this," said Cell cockily, clambering up the pipe and onto the roof, leaving a bewildered shop manager behind. As he reached the roof, Cell walked to the centre and collapsed on his knees, feeling weak. His muscles cramped and his hands hurt. Sweat poured down his face as his chest heaved in and out. He fell onto his back, looking up at the blue sky as the stolen goods were still bundled in his arms.

He closed his eyes for several seconds, drenching in the sun. As his heart calmed down, Cell sat up, looking down at this new formation. When he had first seen it, he was surprised. He had never seen this type of growth before. What was it?

"Well if you really want to know…" said a familiar voice, causing Cell to look up. Jaena floated before him. "It's called a…"

"How do you know what I'm thinking?" he asked, his brows slanted in aggravated annoyance.

"'Course I do," she began. "It's my responsibility as your therapist to know your active thoughts."

"Active thoughts?" Cell cocked a green brow.

"Yeah. The thoughts that you're _consciously_ thinking," she answered.

He stared at her incredulously, raised his hands, and flicked her away. She popped back a minute later.

"FINE!" she yelled, her hair aflame once again. "I'll leave you to your own devices! Stupid bug…" With that she disappeared once again.

Cell sighed, running his hands through his new patch of hair. He felt it, noticing how long it was. He wondered if these used to be the outgrowths on his head. He did not want to know. He felt a deep feeling of self-pity, which made him feel worthless.

Again, he shook his head vigorously.

Self-pity? Worthlessness?

Why was he feeling like this?

He growled, snatching up the shirt and looking at it. It was speckled with greens and blacks, a badge pinned to the chest area reading 'U.S Militiary'. He grimaced at the obviously fake product. He sighed, opening it from the bottom and slipping it on. He straightened the shirt, shaking his hair free from it. He then grabbed the pants, rolling them out and observing them. They were black, with golden stitching. Two belts hung from the waistline. Cell muttered something about unnecessary wastage and pulled them on. He felt a slight tingle up his spine as his hand brushed against his nether regions. He swallowed hard, wondering what exactly that was, but decided to ignore it as he pulled up the zipper and buttoned the top. Dressed and ready, he moved to the side, looking over at the street below. A case of vertigo hit him and he felt the whole world sway. He tumbled backwards, edging away from the edge. Standing, he wondered how he could get down. Then, he saw the doorway. Using stairs was such a human thing… how could he possibly bring himself to…?

Growling, he strode to the door, grabbed the handle and, without a second thought, walked into the cloister of the apartment building.

* * *

Cell ran down the stairs two steps at a time, hurriedly trying to get out of the building. His attempt was hindered as someone coming from the other direction collided into him. A cry escaped the other person's throat as she fell down from the collision; her ascent stopped as Cell absently lashed out and caught her. He stared at her, their gaze blank for some time before the girl smiled at him.

"Gomen, I didn't mean to collide into you like that," she said, letting go of his hand and standing upright. She absently pushed a lock of black hair behind her ear, crossing her arms and peering at him with a curious stare.

"I've never seen you around here before. What's your business here?" she said.

He gave a sidelong glance, not sure of what to say. Finally, all that came out was a pathetic: "Ano…"

She giggled.

"Looking for accommodation?"

"Uh… yeah… I…"

"Thought so," she laughed. "It doesn't look like you're visiting anyone." She sighed, stretching, and noticed his shirt.

"Oh, you like 'U.S. Military' too…?" She blinked at the logo, noticing the imitation brand, and laughed. "Don't worry… I once got duped into buying fake as well…"

"I…"

"Hey, anyway, gotta go dude. Nice talking to you and thanks for catching me," she ended, squeezing past him and continuing up the stairs.

He stood in the stairwell for a total of three minutes, staring at the wall opposite him. Then, he cocked a brow and continued going down, muttering under his breath.

"Dude? Why'd she call me dude? And what's this 'U.S. Military' crap…?"

On his shoulder, Jaena giggled, recording his good deed on her list.

* * *

Cell walked down the street in his new clothes. Once again, he passed by the advertisement, flashing the words 'Tenkaichi Budoukai' across the screen. He kept his eyes on the advertisement, the location and the order of transport to this Papaya Island appearing on screen. Cell smirked, heading towards the dock. It was no wonder this location was familiar. It was South City. He looked at the roads circling the city, remembering the many people who had succumbed to his power. Now…

Cell looked at his hands, growling. Now he was a mere Earthling, or at least trapped in an Earthling body. His walk turned to an angry stride as he continued to head down the road, which lead to the docks.

Reaching the docks, he saw that there was a ferry, loading people aboard. He walked towards that particular ferry, seeing that it was headed for Papaya Island. He watched as the others went aboard the ferry, and then walked forwards. As he was about to board the boat, a man waiting at the plank stopped him.

"Ticket," he said, more a statement than a question.

"What?" asked Cell.

"Ticket. You know; it's a little piece of paper that allows admission onto the ferry. No ticket, no entry," said the ferryman.

Cell stared, one part of him wanting to punch the man in the face. However, he listened to the side of him that told him to walk away, and that's just what he did. Standing from a distance, he watched others board the ferry, handing the man little green pieces of paper. Where did they get those from anyway?

"The ticket booth," answered the voice of Jaena as she appeared before him, standing just a few centimetres from his nose.

Cell had to go slightly cross-eyed to look at her, earning him some weird stares from some people.

"A what?" he asked, quite loudly, earning him even more strange looks.

"Ticket booth. A booth that sells tickets. However, you won't be able to get anything."

"Why?"

"Because you have no money. Money is power in this world."

Cell gave a sidelong glance, remembering something like money from one of his victims. It was that time with Piccolo.

"Where do I get that from?" asked Cell.

Jaena looked thoughtful. "Work," she finally answered.

"Work?"

"Yeah, but it'd take you a few months…"

"I don't have a few months!"

"Okay, okay, no need to yell. Then it's simple. Don't go, like I suggested. It'll only bring anger which will hinder you from…"

Cell swiped her away as if a fly were in front of his face, causing her to whirl into the air, screaming. He did not want to hear more of her pathetic psychobabble. He sighed, noticing all the strange looks he was getting. For a few moments he stared at those who stared at him, and then, something like a switch flicked in his head.

"What!" he yelled, his temper flaring.

The people stopped staring, hastily murmuring things under their breath and walking away. Cell growled, wondering how he had gotten into such a disaster. The sound of a low horn caught his attention. He looked forward, watching as the ferry left the dock.

"Kuso!" he yelled, once again diverting attention to himself. Ignoring their stares, he ran forward, past the ferryman, who yelled for him to stop, and leapt off the dock.

A loud gasp could be heard from behind as Cell did just as he did before. Using the dock as leverage, Cell sprung forward, arms outstretched towards the ferry. For a moment, Cell thought he would not make it, but then, the platform grew bigger and bigger, until…

Success.

Cell grabbed onto the ledge, his shoulder muscle pulling and causing him to wince in pain. He hung onto the railing with one arm, looking behind and watching the ferryman as he yelled profanity at the young reincarnated man. Smirking, Cell clambered up the ferry and rested upon the railing. He looked down, grimacing as he saw the propeller where he had been hanging. Imagine if he had let go… he would have been mincemeat, literally.

Scared of a propeller?

He had never, _ever_ been scared of a propeller before!

Cell shook his head, turning around to lean his back on the railing. He placed both arms on the railing and looked at the people as they went about their business on the ferry. Some were still staring at him, some amazed, others disgusted. There was one boy in particular who was standing right by him, staring up at him with huge blue eyes. Cell looked down at him, one half of him growing increasingly annoyed with the young boy. Finally, he let his anger consume.

"What are you staring at?" he snapped.

The reaction of the boy was slow, but it was there. First, he continued staring blankly, then slowly, the blank expression contorted into one of scared anguish, the creases growing as the boy's eyes shut tight and his mouth frowned.

Cell took a step back in shock as a loud wail erupted from the boy's throat, tears springing forth from his blue orbs. Cell's hands went instinctively up, as if trying to keep the boy away and calm him down at the same time.

"O… oi…" said Cell, looking down at the boy. "D… don't cry…" His demands did not help as the boy continued to cry, wailing and wailing.

To make matters worse, a woman came from the upper deck, her face contorted into anger.

"How dare you!" she cried, turning to Cell.

Cell stared, incredulous.

"Don't you ever yell at my boy! Don't even touch him you… you punk!" She gave Cell a hard whack on the left bicep, which actually hurt, and stalked away, carrying the wailing boy.

All others on the ferry stared at Cell with disgust as he watched with an incredulous look. Cell sighed, turning his back.

"I wish I was dead…" mumbled the young man.


	3. Unexpected Meetings

**Redemption's Side**

**Disclaimer: **Dragonball Z and all its characters © Akira Toriyama, BIRD STUDIO/SHUEISHA, TOEI Animation. Licensed by FUNimation Production, Ltd. All Rights Reserved

**Disclaimer 2: **All fictional character © Eileen Ayling Setiawan (author) and any aliases she assumes (H-san, Hina-chan, etc…)

**Author's Note:** This takes place _after_ the first part of Masshiro na Yuki: Pure White Snow, my fanfiction about Kinoko, the female Saiya-jin. It's a filler of sorts.

**Author's Note 2: **This was inspired by vege-chan from deviantArt.

* * *

**Chapter Two: **Unexpected Meetings

* * *

**Tenkaichi Budoukai : **also known as Budoukai or the World Martial Arts Tournament. Fighters gather from all over the globe to head to Papaya Island, where the tournament is held. There is no set date for the World Tournament; however, it is usually held on May 7 of that particular year.

* * *

The ferry docked at Papaya Island bay, those aboard the ferry departing. Cell stayed behind the other travellers, the last to leave the boat. As he touched solid ground, he scanned the area, seeing that Papaya Island seemed like a tropical area, with palm trees and sunny beaches. He looked to where the majority were heading, slinking into the amalgamation of people and trying to blend, hard to do due to his green hair, lack of shoes, and strange facial markings. Despite this, he was able to make it to the fairgrounds, seeing stalls lining the pathways. People bought food and souvenirs, laughing and talking excitedly about the fights that were to happen on this particular day. The names 'Mr. Satan' and 'Mr. Buu' were frequently used in these conversations. Cell hummed mentally. The name 'Buu'… that was awfully familiar… where? Where was it from?

"He was the pink thing that terrorised Earth several years after your imminent death, seven to be exact," said the annoyingly correct voice of Jaena, causing Cell to sigh in frustration. Despite this, Jaena continued. "He went on to become reincarnated into Uub, a young boy with magnificent power." A strange lustre seemed to shine in Jaena's eyes. "And he's so cute when he's all grown up."

Cell cocked a brow.

"I'm almost afraid to ask, but how would you know?" he hissed, trying not to grab anyone's attention.

Jaena's lips curled into a smile. "Oh, as ogress of the Other World, it's my occupation to know some things. Plus, it's so obvious, you know? I mean, despite the fact that he's so scrawny now, he'll obviously grow to be big and strong."

Cell shook his head.

"Don't worry… I don't wanna know…" he muttered, turning to face the stadium.

_The Tenkaichi Budoukai… all fighters would be here…_ thought Cell. His lips curled into a sadistic smile, despite the fact that he was only human. _Gohan…_

"You're not planning anything, right?" asked Jaena, a look of scrutiny on her face.

Cell glared at her, waved his hand, and watched as Jaena went flying into the distance. Satisfied with her scream, he walked towards the stadium.

* * *

Walking amongst the crowd, Cell looked to the main arena, seeing the fighters conglomerate. He recognised none of them… that is none, but one. His eyes honed in on a young purple-haired man, standing with his back to a young man with spiky black hair.

Cell's eyes narrowed as a memory flashed across his mind of a purple-haired man. Trunks Vegeta Briefs. How he loathed Vegeta's spawn. He remembered he had killed the boy, but he had unfortunately been wished back. If only he could summon the energy, the strength, to kill that boy right now.

But no.

He could not now. He was much too weak.

"You got that right," said Jaena.

Cell growled; a sign of his ever-increasing frustration.

"Will you _stop_ annoying me?" Cell growled.

Some close-by onlookers stared at him, believing he had talked to them. They raised their brows, taking steps away from the young man. Cell growled once again, turning to look to the crowd.

His eyes widened in surprise at the sight on the field.

It could not be.

Not him.

He had killed him, he was _sure_.

Crouching in front of a little girl, his face an expression of amiability, was Son Goku. The same Goku Cell was sure he had killed. Something inside him boiled and brewed an anger which Cell had never felt before.

It was deeper than any anger he had felt before…

It was an undeniable, pure bloodthirsty rage!

"Cell!" yelled Jaena, breaking his train of thought.

He shot up, looking to his left. Jaena was glaring tooth and dagger at the young man.

"Don't you dare let any thoughts lead you astray! You're supposed to be getting better, not getting even! You hear me young man!" yelled Jaena, wagging a finger at Cell.

Cell sighed, opening his mouth to reply with a witty remark, but was interrupted by Jaena.

"Plus, it'd be useless to get even with Gohan!"

Cell shut his mouth abruptly. "What?" he asked.

Jaena pointed a shaky finger at something, somewhere in the distance. Cell followed where her finger pointed to, seeing a group of people sitting at a booth at the top. His brow cocked slightly.

"In there, among others that might seem familiar to you, is Gohan. He's about twenty-seven years old. Do you know what that means?"

Cell's eyes went wide, unable to believe the facts being presented to him. Twenty-seven, that was almost seventeen years…

"Exactly!" interrupted Jaena, once again reading Cell's thought. "By now, Gohan's _way_ over you!" She laughed mockingly, causing Cell to swat away at the woman who once again went flying.

Cell sighed, trying to calm himself. Unable to bear the incidents happening at the arena, he turned and left the Tenkaichi Budoukai… unexpectedly colliding into a girl as he turned. Once again, Cell found himself face-to-face with the girl from the stairs. She stared at him for some time, and then laughed, a smile crossing her face.

"It's you. We seem to have a knack for unexpectedly meeting one another," she laughed. Her expression went blank as she looked down. "Where're your shoes?" she asked, looking at him with a slightly sceptical expression.

Cell blinked dumbly, becoming aware that his arm had grabbed onto her shoulder. She laughed, grabbing his hand and holding it.

"You must be entering the prelim matches if you have no shoes, otherwise you forgot to put them on. Are you a fighter?" she asked.

"I was just…" Cell looked to the arena, as if looking for any excuse to get out of this awkward and annoying conversation.

She looked to the arena blankly, then looked to him and smiled.

"Come on. I'll show you where to go." Walking, she tugged on his arms, causing him to follow. "I know two friends down there," she said as they continued to walk.

He followed, slightly disoriented with the energy of this girl.

"I didn't know they were going to come. They said they didn't feel like it," she continued. "Guess they came, ne?" She looked behind, giving him a smile.

They continued walking, winding through passageways lined with doors. Finally, they reached a door that read "Preparation Room". The girl grabbed the door handle and swung the door open, yanking in Cell with her. As they entered, Cell noticed that benches lined the area, people of different ages talking amongst one another and getting prepared. As both entered, the fighters seemed to eye Cell and the girl with a look that read "easy". Cell's eyes narrowed slightly. How dare they think that he would be beaten so easily…

Before he knew it, he had exited the room and a burst of white light burned his retina painfully. He blinked, seeing stars, and as his pink pupils adjusted, he saw that he was now on the main arena. He shook his head, feeling the girl let go of his wrist. Placing a hand on his head, he looked up, squinting in the sun.

"Hey, these are the two I was talking about," said the girl's voice.

Cell looked to the girl, his vision clearing, and saw her motioning towards two individuals. He turned his head, eyes wide at the sight of the purple-haired Saiya-jin hybrid before him. Trunks grinned at the girl.

"Got a boyfriend, eh?" he asked.

The girl pouted, smacking the Saiya-jin hybrid's arm, who rubbed it with the grin still plastered on his face. He turned to Cell.

"Trunks Vegeta Briefs," introduced Trunks, hand out in a form of greeting.

Cell looked at his hand blankly, and then back at Trunks.

"I know," said Cell flatly, almost coldly, as he remembered his past life.

Trunks gave a sceptical look, putting his hand down and giving a sidelong glace to the girl, who laughed and shrugged. A poof resounded close to Cell's right ear as Jaena appeared.

"I told you not to come here," she said, her voice matter-of-factly. "But no, you decided to go against the advice of your therapist. I swear, antagonists should at least learn to lis… AAAHHHH!"

Cell swatted her away, cutting her short before she finished her small rant. The girl looked to him curiously.

"Why do you always do that?" she asked.

Cell looked at her.

"Flies," he answered, once again his voice monotonous.

"Wow, your friend's lively," said an unfamiliar voice.

Cell turned towards the source of the sound, seeing the man whom had stood with his back to Trunks a while back. He grinned at Cell, his raven black hair long and his gi resembling someone familiar. Cell's eyes narrowed in thought.

"Son Goten," said the voice once again, placing a hand out like Trunks before him.

Son? As in Son Gohan, Son Goku…? That would only mean that Goku had _another_ son. But when? Impossible! Did Cell really kill Goku? Or was this some cheap, practical joke the universe was playing against him?

All these thoughts raced through Cell's mind, but the only thing Cell could utter was a single word: "Son?"

Goten looked slightly clueless, his hand going down to rub the back of his head.

"O… hai… That's my last name."

"_Son…_" emphasised Cell.

Goten nodded slowly. "Son Goten…"

"Maybe he's heard your name from somewhere?" asked the girl.

Goten grinned at her.

"Probably…" he turned to Cell. "My father once won a Tenkaichi Budoukai. Or maybe you know me through my brother; he's a teacher at Red Diamond College."

"Brother?" questioned Cell.

Goten nodded, his arm shooting up to point above. "Son Gohan. He's up there."

Cell's eyes went wide. Gohan? He was the brother of Gohan? Cell looked to where Goten pointed, seeing Gohan waving down at them. Goten waved back as Cell's eyes went wider, if they could go any more. Jaena was right. Gohan was older, _much _older, than before.

Goten hummed, breaking Cell's frantic thoughts. He pointed into the distance. "There's my father and niece, Son Goku and Son Pan respectively," he said.

Cell looked to where he pointed at, his gut wrenching in anger at the sight of Goku, smiling and alive. The little girl who stood before him, Pan, was equally as happy as him.

Wait a minute… niece… this buffoon was her uncle…?

"Niece?" asked Cell.

"Un, my brother's daughter. Ain't she cute…?" Goten trailed off as a sudden realisation hit him. "AH, I know! You probably know me through Videl Satan…"

Satan…

"My brother's wife. I mean, despite the fact that they tried to keep it low key, their marriage was pretty much _everywhere_," Goten laughed.

Cell remained fixated on a spot on the ground, absorbing all the information with a slow, numbing mind. He could not believe it! Everything, _everything_ had changed. This new earth was more of a Hell than Hell was a Hell.

"Which is why we sent you here," said Jaena in his right ear.

Cell glowered, throwing his head roughly to the right and causing her to go flying in that direction. He then snapped his head towards Goten, who was now animatedly talking with Trunks. He stared at both for a few moments, the girl's voice breaking his concentration. He snapped his head towards her.

"They're best friends, at least they tell me that," she laughed. "They've been best friends since they were little kids. Anyway –" she turned to Cell, smiling. "I haven't gotten your name yet."

The other two stopped talking, looking to him.

"Oh yeah," said Trunks. "What is your name?"

There was a poof as a panicked Jaena whispered furiously into his ear:

"Seru Jinzouningen! Your name is Seru Jinzouningen!"

"Seru Jinzouningen…?" repeated Cell.

"Serujinzouningen?" asked Goten. "That's a long name."

Cell looked at Goten, as if he had forgotten he was there. "It's… just Seru…" replied Cell.

Jaena pulled a thumbs-up in Cell's face and disappeared in a flash. Cell growled in the general direction of where she used to be, and then turned to the two best friends.

"Hn, Jinzouningen…" mused Trunks. "Sounds familiar…"

A large sweat drop ran down Cell's head. _Crap_ he thought.

Trunks shrugged. "Must be me," he ended, smiling at Cell.

"Hey Trunks, Goten," interrupted the girl's voice.

Both young men looked at her, who looked slyly back.

"What exactly are you doing at the tournament anyway? I thought you guys were "busy"," she said, emphasising the words 'busy' with her hand actions.

Trunks and Goten laughed nervously under her gaze.

"Well… you see…" began Goten.

"How about your date?" she asked.

"I had to cancel," he said flatly.

She laughed. "I'm glad someone forced you to come. Who was it?"

Goten pointed to where his father and niece were.

"Your father or your niece?"

Goten pouted as Trunks laughed.

"Father," he said.

She laughed, turning to Trunks. "And you?"

Trunks opened his mouth, interrupted by a gruff voice.

"I made him," said a man with jet-black hair that spiked straight up as he walked past the group.

"My tou-san…" answered Trunks as the girl gave him a questioning look.

She laughed harder, holding her sides. Meanwhile, Cell looked to Vegeta, his eyes going wide as the Prince turned to look at him. Vegeta's gaze seemed to pierce into Cell's, almost as if Vegeta knew who he was in his past life. Cell tore his eyes away from the Saiya-jin, trying to concentrate on a spot on the floor. Every now and then, his eyes flicked up to see whether the Prince was there. Relief swept over him as he found Vegeta walking into the distance.

"So, both your fathers…?" Cell heard the girl say, interrupting his frantic thoughts at being discovered.

Both Trunks and Goten nodded. She sighed, wiping a tear from her eyes.

"I wish my father would do that," she said, smiling amiably.

Both Trunks and Goten smiled down at her, a warm, yet slightly awkward, silence settling over the group. Cell stood distant from the rest, looking for a way out of this mess.

"Well," began the girl. "I should go now. I'm not going to enter the tournament with you guys in it."

"Why not?" asked Goten.

The girl smiled.

"I'd get beaten. There'd be no point. And I really wanted that prize money."

Trunks and Goten smiled wryly.

"Enter the mocks," said Trunks.

"The mocks?" asked the girl.

Cell turned his head to listen.

"The mocks; they're mock fights to entertain the audience before everything's set up and during intermission. It's for those who either don't make it, or don't want to fight in the main tournament," explained Trunks.

The girl looked thoughtful.

"That sounds awesome. It'll help me get my training up," she replied. She turned to Cell, smiling.

"Are you coming?"

Cell opened his mouth to reply.

"'Course he will!" said Goten, giving Cell a hard whack on the back.

Cell flinched as the hand and his back made contact, slight pain emanating from the area.

"Ouch," said Cell between clenched teeth.

"Sorry bud didn't mean to hurt ya," said Goten.

_Don't call me that… _thought Cell, getting grabbed by the girl once again, dragged off the arena and into the room they were in before.


	4. Preparing for Combat

**Redemption's Side**

**Disclaimer: **Dragonball Z and all its characters © Akira Toriyama, BIRD STUDIO/SHUEISHA, TOEI Animation. Licensed by FUNimation Production, Ltd. All Rights Reserved

**Disclaimer 2: **All fictional character © Eileen Ayling Setiawan (author) and any aliases she assumes (H-san, Hina-chan, etc…)

**Author's Note:** This takes place _after_ the first part of Masshiro na Yuki: Pure White Snow, my fanfiction about Kinoko, the female Saiya-jin. It's a filler of sorts.

**Author's Note 2: **This was inspired by vege-chan from deviantArt.

* * *

**Chapter Three: **Preparing for Combat

* * *

**The mocks : **also known as "The Entertainment Rounds", is where fighters who do not participate in the _actual_ tournament can test their skills against others. It is usually held during the beginning, intervals and at the end. The most prominent mock rounds are during intermission, and those who participate in the mock rounds can fight as much as they want.

* * *

Cell sat bored in a back room, leaning forward and his elbows on his knees as he looked down at the floor. He looked up as he heard someone enter the room. The girl smiled down at him.

"Yo, you ready?" asked the girl, sitting down opposite him.

He looked up at her, sceptically.

"What _exactly_ is going on?" he asked.

"The mock rounds," answered the girl. "Aren't you entering the mock rounds too?"

Cell looked sidelong at the wall.

"I guess…" he said.

The girl grinned. "Great! We'll enter during intermission," she finalised. She stood up to walk out, stopped and turned.

"Oh, by the way," she began, giving him another smile. "Name's Aisu Sakagoshima. Call me whatever you want." With that, she walked out, leaving Cell with a cocked brow.

* * *

"Hey, Ai-chan!" called Trunks as Aisu walked out from the room.

Aisu turned towards Trunks, grinning.

"Hey Trunks-san. How's it going since the last 20 minutes?" asked Aisu, tongue sticking out.

Trunks laughed.

"It's been good. You entering beginning mock rounds?" asked Trunks.

Aisu shook her head. "Nah, most of those dudes don't take it seriously. Entering intermission," answered Aisu.

"Ohhh, intermission!" cried Goten, grinning, as he walked towards both Trunks and Aisu. "Know whom you want to go against?" he continued.

Aisu shrugged. "Guess I'll know when the time comes," she answered. "_Anyway_, you guys have got to get to the selection rounds." Aisu pointed past the guys.

They both turned, seeing the fighters line up. They sighed, turning back to her, but blinked clueless as they found she had gone. They looked further into the distance, seeing her walk away.

"JA!" she called, raising a hand in the air.

"JA!" said Trunks and Goten in unison.

* * *

The first several rounds of the tournament went by eventfully, with the little girl, Pan, first up and actually defeating the big guy she was faced with. After Pan, it was her grandfather, Son Goku, fighting a little boy that called himself Uub. After a very eventful match, with the Son insulting the young boy left and right, Goku had offered to train the young boy, much to the surprise of everyone. After some words exchanged between Goku, his family and his friends, he left with Uub, leaving the match undecided.

"Weird," commented Aisu as the match was announced as null. "Wonder why…" she pondered out loud, as she had not been watching up until then.

Cell already knew, knowing that this Uub character would most likely become the world's next saviour. He wondered why the Saiya-jin could not just hand the job over to his sons. After all… Gohan had proven he was worthy of the title.

Cell's hand went up instinctively to his chest, where most of the pain had emanated during his final moments in the fight.

After several more fights, including both Trunks and Goten winning their respective rounds, intermission was called. Cell sat uninterested, still in the back room, when Trunks and Goten came in. Cell looked up at them, his gaze cold, as the two best friends and hybrid Saiya-jins looked down at him.

"Hey Seru," said Goten simply.

Cell looked away, causing the two to exchange glances.

"You going in the mock intermission rounds?" asked Trunks, sitting opposite him.

Cell grunted his answer.

"I'll take that as a yes," laughed Goten, sitting down next to and nudging Trunks. "That's what your tou-san does when he answers, huh?"

Trunks shot Goten a glance that read 'don't push it' before turning to Cell again. Goten laughed in the background.

"Well good luck in that," wished Trunks, standing up.

Goten stood up likewise, leaning over and grabbing onto Cell's shoulder.

"Yeah, good luck! Especially if you're fighting Aisu," stated Goten, giving Cell a typical Son grin and following his best friend.

Cell looked to where the two had just departed, a part of him perplexed with what the Son meant but the other half scoffing at such a ludicrous thought. A human? Beat him? Impossible.

"It's more possible than you actually think," said the familiar voice of his therapist.

Cell could feel his anger flare at her voice.

"You see," continued Jaena, oblivious to his anger. "As a human, you are more vulnerable to things such as pain, and in effect, a simple punch by someone much larger than you can simply crumple you like aluminium (it's an Earth analogy. I picked it up while researching). Furthermore, gravel and concrete should be feared for your carbon-based flesh, as instead of the usual rough and tough hide you had before as Cell, your human skin is softer, and therefore, can be easily torn or ripped by rough surfaces. Actually, I find it a miracle that your feet haven't bore the consequences of having no – "

A high-pitched scream followed the incomplete sentence as Jaena was swatted away by an aggravated Cell, just as Aisu walked in, staring at his actions.

"Those flies hate you, ne?" asked Aisu, sitting opposite Cell and giving him a cold drink.

Cell took it instinctively and replied: "Yes, thoroughly and painfully."

Aisu laughed, opening her can with a hiss of the aluminium lid. Cell followed her actions, then realised what he was doing, and stared at the drink. It read "Cola with a Twist: endorsing the Tenkaichi Budoukai". He cocked a brow at the drink as a gasp came from opposite him.

"Sorry, do you like cola or not?" asked Aisu, looking slightly distressed. "I didn't know what kind of drink you like, so I…" She trailed off as Cell took a sip, still looking as normally apathetic as usual. Aisu smiled.

As Cell drank the liquid, a taste burst forth in his mouth: sweet and fizzy with a bite. He looked at Aisu, a more curious look on his face. Aisu smiled at him.

"Lemon tang," she answered. "You can only get that type of drink here, at the Tenkaichi Budoukai," continued Aisu, taking a long swig of her drink.

Cell looked at the drink, then took another, finding he actually liked it. The thought repulsed him: liking a mere drink. What was he turning into?

"A person," said Aisu, almost as if she had read his thoughts.

His head shot up at her, clearly surprised.

"Told me once," she continued.

A feeling of relief passed over Cell.

"That the mock rounds during intermission are equally more tough than the tournament itself," she ended.

Cell looked to the girl incredulously.

"You can't be serious?" he asked.

Aisu smiled solemnly, not at him, but more to herself, a private smile that she had allowed him to see.

"We'll see soon, ne?"

* * *

The commentator wiped his brow, looking out at the arena. The fights were getting hotter, and not just that, it seemed that the heat wave of Spring tearing through the season was getting to him too. He looked to his left, seeing an official walking up to him, wearing the usual orange sarong.

"Sir," he began, giving the commentator a wad of sheets. "This is the next announcement for the mock rounds. It seems we've got more people in it than the last tournament."

"Really?" asked the commentator, looking down at the list. The official was right: there were _a lot_ more contestants than the other tournament.

"It seems the man who lost in Round One decided to join the mocks as well," said the official.

The commentator cocked a brow. "You mean Tiger? Uh… can he do that?"

The official nodded. "Oh yes, completely legal."

"Okay… whose he fighting against?"

"Some new guy by the name of Seru Jinzouningen."

"Jinzouningen…?"

"Yes, like that woman from before: Juuhachigou."

"Are they related?"

"I… I'm not really sure."

"Oh… well… sure thing. I'll get to these once the clock hits 11."

The official nodded, walking away and leaving the commentator looking at the sheets.

"Interesting," he said, looking down the sheets.

* * *

Cell looked down at the sheet, his brow cocked at his name written down in the traditional Japanese kanji that was often used. Aisu stood behind him, her chin resting on his shoulder as she looked over it at the same sheet.

"You're fighting that dude from the first round," she said, a hint of excitement in the rise and fall of her voice. Her arm went through the space between his arm and his chest as she pointed to his name. "You can beat him. He's dumb _and_ slow. All he's got is power."

Cell started feeling strangely uncomfortable with her in this position. It was too close for him.

"And I'm fighting someone named… Crystal. Wonder if she's related to Jewel…"

"Jewel?" asked Cell, giving a sidelong glance.

Aisu nodded, head still on his shoulder. "Yeah, some chick who became runner-up in a tournament way ages ago."

Cell looked at the sheet again, looking thoughtful.

"Hn," exclaimed Aisu as she continued looking down the list. "Interesting…"

Cell looked to her again, wondering what she meant. Aisu smiled that same private smile.

"You'll know later," she said, turning to him with that smile. She then stood up, grabbed a utility belt lying on the bench, and walked away.

Cell looked out to her, seeing her disappear into the far reaches of the room. He then looked down to the list, wondering what exactly she had seen that seemed so interesting. Placing the sheet next to him, he stood up and grabbed the can of lemon cola that he was previously drinking, noticing it was empty. Walking out, he half-heartedly wondered where he could get hold of another one.

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen," began the commentator, addressing the roaring crowd overhead. "After very gruelling battles from those who made it into the main event, we have even more battles!"

The crowd roared in agreement.

"In this set of battles, Tiger, the warrior from the first round, will be seen battling it out with a new fighter into the mock battles, Seru Jinzouningen."

The crowd went louder. Meanwhile, as the commentator continued listing the other fighters, the Z-Senshi all murmured among one another.

"Jinzouningen?" asked Krillen, looking to his wife. "Wasn't that – "

"Yes… half of my known name," said Juuhachigou, looking perplexed.

"Do you know him mum?" asked Marron, also perplexed. She never knew her mother had another brother, and she knew all her mother's brothers. Family was an important part of her life.

Juuhachigou shook her head.

"The name's not familiar."

"Maybe someone actually has that last name," suggested Gohan, looking to the Chestnut family.

Krillen looked thoughtful. "I guess so," he mumbled. "I mean, I have heard weirder," he ended, smiling at his wife.

Juuhachigou looked thoughtful, but nodded.

"Hn… yes, there are stranger things…"

Back on the ground, and in the back room where all the fighters were eagerly waiting, Cell was drinking his third can, sitting nonchalantly as he waited for his fight to begin. He took a long sip, then placed it beside him, leaning his head against the wall behind him. Apparently, they were setting up the grounds, so Cell had to wait several more minutes. He felt this overwhelming sense of boredom wash over him as he sat there, a feeling unfamiliar to the once-organic Android. Sighing inwardly, his hand went down to get his drink, feeling nothing. He looked down, seeing the location where his drink had been now empty. He looked around perplexed, until a glint of metal caught his attention. He looked to his left and up at the massive baulking figure of Tiger, the warrior he was to fight against, drinking his Lemon-tang Cola. Cell's eyes narrowed as Tiger finished the can, looking down at him.

"So," he began, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "You're the small fry I'm going up against."

Cell smirked. "Who're you calling small fry? I'm not the one who was beaten by a small girl."

Tiger's eyes went wide as he scowled.

"WHY YOU – "

Cell put up his hand. "I wouldn't if I were you. No fighting outside the arena, or is it that your small brain can't process _all_ the rules."

Tiger shook with anger, fist still raised, and then with all the restraint he had, his arm went down as he shot a deathly glare at Cell.

"When we fight, I will annihilate you!"

"Hn, using a word you can't even spell. Impressive."

Tiger crushed the aluminium can, throwing it at Cell and turning around, stomping away and pushing anyone that got in his path, including Aisu, who glared at him as he passed. Cell, who had caught the can, looked at it apathetically, and then looked up as Aisu came walking in. He noticed the utility belt was around her waist, a satchel at the back.

"Angry fellow, isn't he?" she asked, sitting opposite him. "Your first match."

Cell grunted in acknowledgment, staring at the general direction of said baulking warrior.

"I saw you back there. Very witty, but that can get you into a lot of trouble."

"Can't help it," replied Cell without thinking.

Aisu chuckled. "Well, if it's in your nature, one can't help but act. Anyway, you're up now."

Sure enough, his name and that of Tiger's was being called out over the PA system. Cell stood, cracking his neck and walking to the doorway. He stopped as he heard the girl's voice behind him.

"Good luck," she said as he turned, seeing that smile upon her face.

He did not reply, but merely walked out and into the glaring sunlight.


	5. FIGHT!

**Redemption's Side**

**Disclaimer: **Dragonball Z and all its characters © Akira Toriyama, BIRD STUDIO/SHUEISHA, TOEI Animation. Licensed by FUNimation Production, Ltd. All Rights Reserved

**Disclaimer 2: **All fictional character © Eileen Ayling Setiawan (author) and any aliases she assumes (H-san, Hina-chan, etc…)

**Author's Note:** This takes place _after_ the first part of Masshiro na Yuki: Pure White Snow, my fanfiction about Kinoko, the female Saiya-jin. It's a filler of sorts.

**Author's Note 2: **This was inspired by vege-chan from deviantArt. Go visit her!

* * *

**Chapter Four:** FIGHT!

* * *

**Cell's ki energy, part one :**As an organic Android, Cell had no ki energy, and therefore, like all Dr. Gero's creations, he could not be felt by the Z-Senshi. However, as he was reincarnated, Cell "gained" an energy signal. The mysterious thing about his energy signal, however, is the fact that Cell's ki is a conglomerate of different signals from the cells that were combined to form his genetic make-up. The ki that is expressed is dependent on his emotions at the time. For example, when extremely angry, Frieza's makeup is expressed, when happy, Goku's is expressed. More than one makeup can correspond with more than one emotion. During the course of the story, different emotions felt by Cell will be expressed as a different ki makeup. Can you guess which ki energy matches which emotion?

* * *

**SERU JINZOUNINGEN **vs. **TIGER**

Cell stepped up to the arena, Tiger standing next to him with a vicious expression on his visage. He gave a sidelong glance at Cell, whom ignored him and walked forward towards the opposite side. Tiger moved forward, standing a little way from where they were just positioned.

"Ready for the hurt?" asked Tiger, grinning maliciously.

Cell cracked his neck, a resounding pop as he freed his joints from the stiffness upon them. "I'd like to see you try," he replied, standing solemnly before the bulky shadow of the warrior.

Both stood, staring at one another, the crowd cheering and roaring. As Cell stood before him, anticipating, he could feel adrenaline coursing through his body, putting him in a zone he had never experienced before, a high so big that he felt as if he were flying. Suddenly, all he could do was concentrate and wait… wait for that moment…

The moment came as the commentator yelled:

"FIGHT!"

Tiger rushed forward, fists raised and ready to pummel the man before him. Cell merely stood there, a slow smile crossing his face. However, the smile turned to surprise as Tiger continued rushing forward, two fists planted in Cell's stomach. Cell was sent sprawling backwards, winded and in pain.

"What the?" he exclaimed, on one knee and hands clutching his stomach.

"You're human, or did you forget?" said Jaena's voice in his right ear.

Cell shot a sidelong glance at her.

"You have none of the abilities you had before," she continued. "You're defenceless out here."

"Kuso…" cursed Cell, standing up, but slumping as a wave of pain washed over him as he stood to his full height.

Tiger laughed.

"That's what you get for mocking me kid!" said the big fellow, smiling cockily at him.

Cell gave a smile of his own, causing Tiger's face to fault.

"What are you smiling at?" he yelled, anger flaring.

Cell continued smiling, still slumped; yet holding stead. In the upper area, where the Z-Senshi watched the fights, they were surprised to feel a sudden flare of Goku's power. Each and every one of them turned to the power, trying to find where it was and pinpoint the power source.

"Where's it coming from?" asked Gohan.

Piccolo pointed down at the arena.

"Down there," he said, his expression fixated upon the fight.

"Bu – but…" began Krillen.

"Yeah, I'm not sure too…" said Gohan, hand on chin and reflecting the thinking pose of his father.

"Maybe… we're just feeling things?" suggested Yamucha, looking as perplexed as everyone else.

However, at the same time as the Z-Senshi, the four fighters, Goten, Trunks, Pan and Vegeta looked left to right, wondering where the power was emanating from.

"Tou… tou-san?" asked Goten, hopeful.

"Where is he?" chimed Pan, also hopeful.

"Don't know… but it's coming from the arena," replied Trunks, his cerulean eyes cocked in confusion.

Vegeta merely looked to the arena, eyeing the young man with the green hair and wondering why he seemed so vaguely familiar.

On the arena, Cell sneezed, the feeling strange to him.

"That was a sneeze, it –"

"Shuddap!" hissed Cell, still staring at Tiger who was now descending on him with a swift assurance of death.

Cell jumped back, his feet skidding against the ground. He felt pain emitting from that movement but decided to ignore it as Tiger came in once again.

"What did you say?" said Tiger, a fist raised once again.

Cell's eyes lowered, growing sick of this pathetic fighter. As Tiger punched down, Cell jumped up, landing on his large fist and running up his arm. As he reached the brute's head, he kicked him in the chin and used it as leverage to jump up once again. His second jump landed him on his head, where he jumped and flipped off, kicking the man at the same time and landing with a flip forwards. As Tiger landed with a large thud, Cell used the momentum of his last flip to spin back towards him and land on his chest, his foot lodging itself on his neck.

The crowd started counting.

"TEN!" began the commentator.

"NINE!" said the fighters in the back room.

"EIGHT!" said Aisu.

"SEVEN!" said Pan.

"SIX!" said the crowd.

Cell was clearly enjoying watching Tiger go slowly purple under the restricted oxygen. He felt one part of him telling him to snap this guy's neck, however, a greater part wanted to win.

"FI – "

Before the fifth count could be called, Cell's leg was grabbed roughly and twisted in an awkward position as he was lifted clear off the ground and spun in dizzying circles round and round. Next thing he knew, he was being thrown, at an accelerating speed, towards the arena's edge. That part of him that wanted to win flared up. Cell forced all his weight down, nearing the ground, and following his "brother's" own technique, grabbed the concrete with his hands, clawing in and trying to stop himself from rushing to a certain defeat. The attempt halted him, only a foot going over the edge; however, cost him the use of his fingers.

Cell looked down at his fingers, seeing blood seep through the torn skin. Pieces of dirt and rock stuck from the iron-laden liquid, mocking him. His fingers shook as an undeniable pain shot through each and every one of them.

Gritting his teeth, he ignored it.

"Fuck," cursed Cell, his hands clenching.

Tiger looked to him and laughed.

"You're gonna baby your wounds now?" he said, his voice reflecting one of a mother talking to her child.

Cell cast a deadly glare at Tiger, his hands touching the ground despite the pain.

"I will _not_ baby any wounds."

He shot forward, and suddenly, Vegeta's ki energy loomed over the Z-Senshi. Pan, Goten and Trunks were the first to feel it, their glances immediately turning to Vegeta. Vegeta, who could not discern his own ki energy, shot them an irritated glare.

"What!" he snapped.

Trunks and Goten immediately looked away. Pan remained looking at the older Saiya-jin; however, Goten grabbed her head and turned it away from the Prince. In the stands, all those who could feel ki power looked around in confusion, wondering what Vegeta was doing.

"It can't be Vegeta. He's not fighting!" said Tien, clearly confused.

"Yeah… that's weird," continued Yamucha.

Piccolo remained fixated upon the fight between Cell and Tiger, wondering why the power was emanating from that general area. Gohan noticed his sensei's uneasiness.

"What's wrong Piccolo-san?" he asked, looking slightly concerned.

"… Nothing," replied the Namek, looking away from the arena and appearing in deep thought.

Gohan turned to the arena, also slightly uneasy from the strange powers appearing despite the owner's being nowhere in sight.

Cell knocked down Tiger with his attack, hitting the large man in the stomach. Tiger doubled over, allowing for Cell to grab his shoulder and flipping backwards. As he landed, he used the momentum from the last evasion to rush forward once again, this time elbowing the doubled-over Tiger in the nose. A satisfying crack could be heard as Cell broke the cartilage in his nose. Blood poured out of the nose, dripping onto the ground as Tiger yowled in pain, hands immediately holding his face as Cell stood back looking at his masterpiece. However, all the Z-Senshi looked liven as they felt a dark power hang over them.

"But… but…" said Krillen.

"Ye – yeah… it's not possible!" said Yamucha.

All those who could not feel the power looked puzzled.

"What is it?" asked Videl, worried about the expression upon her husband's face.

"Frieza…" muttered Gohan.

At the bottom, Vegeta looked as shocked and fearful as Gohan, his eyes darting around the place. Thankfully, for Vegeta, his son and the other two were not looking, not even knowing about this dark power. They merely felt another significant peak in a power level, although of not they were unsure. However, just as quickly as the power had peaked, it had disappeared, replaced with Vegeta's power level once again as Cell stood before Tiger, gazing at him with an apathetic, cold hard look.

Tiger, clutching his nose, slowly got up, his nose still dripping blood. Cell glared him down, as if his glare would weaken the big man, however, Tiger rose, angrier than ever.

"I am going to **KILL** you, you little fuck!" yelled Tiger, his profanity causing some in the audience to gasp.

Cell's eyebrows rose, and before he could stop himself, he was saying:

"Isn't it rather dangerous for one to use his entire vocabulary in a single sentence."

That was the breaking point for the massive, lumbering person that was Tiger. He ran towards Cell in a mad rush, his arms out and ready to throttle him. Cell's eyes lowered, and out of instinct more than anything else, Cell jumped high in the air and twisted backwards, his two legs going out and kicking Tiger consecutively in the chin. The first kick dazed Tiger; the second brought him down. Cell landed, crossing his arms and looking down at the fallen warrior. Tiger rolled onto his stomach and gripped the floor, trying to get up, however, the pain was too much. He lay on all fours, looking down at the ground and wondering where it all went wrong.

"Seru Jinzouningen wins!" said the commentator, arm rose in the direction of Cell.

The crowd went crazy, screaming in cheer as Cell stood silently in the ring. Within Cell, there was a strange feeling of happiness bubbling, and a more familiar emotion: pride. Without even acknowledging what he was doing, Cell raised his arm, the crowd growing significantly louder. Lowering it, he walked forward, a pain shooting up the leg that had been twisted painfully. Cell dropped down on one knee, gritting his teeth.

So much pain… why was there so much?

"Cause you're human," said Jaena matter-of-factly.

He shot her a deadly glare as she shrugged and disappeared. He tried to raise himself off the floor; however, his leg was prohibiting anything of that sort. As he dropped his head, trying to gather some sort of energy to get himself up, he saw a hand enter his field of vision. The crowd was screaming again. He looked up, seeing Aisu with her hand out and waiting.

"You coming?" she asked.

Cell looked at her hand, feeling weak, not because of the fight, but because he had to result to such methods. Sighing inwardly, he reached out and grabbed her hand. She hauled him up, propping his arm over her shoulders and helping him walk. Due to the immense height difference, as Aisu was pretty short, Cell had to stoop to be half-carried by the young girl.

* * *

Aisu sat with Cell, watching him with more amusement than sympathy. Cell held his ankle, trying to find if anything was broken. He looked up; eyes lowering in suspicion at the gaze Aisu gave him.

"What?" he asked slowly, looking at her and expecting something to burst.

She smiled, shaking her head.

"Iia," she said. "It's nothing…"

Cell took her word for it, inspecting his leg again.

"Sprained," he finalised, placing his leg out before him and leaning on the wall.

Aisu giggled, and Cell saw her get up and disappear. When she returned, she carried a satchel.

"I bring this here every tournament in case I decide to enter." She placed the satchel in front of him.

He peered at it nonchalantly. Aisu leaned forward, opening it and getting out three rolls of bandages, cotton buds, rubbing alcohol, and a blue ice pack. He stared sceptically at the first-aid materials.

"You might need these." She handed the bandages over to him.

He tentatively grabbed the three rolls, as she opened the bottle of rubbing alcohol, placing a cotton bud on its opening and bathing it in it. Meanwhile, Cell started bandaging his hand and fingers, seeing the blood seep through. He looked at it with a grimace.

"Lemme do it," said Aisu, walking over to him and sitting next to him. She opened the bandages and cringed at the sight. "Dude… look at all that gravel. You must have been gripping hard."

Cell grunted, looking away. He felt Aisu inspecting his hand, and then pain shot through his fingers. He cried out in agony, trying to jerk his hand away, however, it remained tightly in her grip. He looked at her, and then at what she was doing. Gently, she dabbed the rubbing alcohol on his wounds, clearing away dirt and debris.

"If we don't get rid of this," she started, her voice calm and steady, almost soothing. "You're going to get tetanus."

Cell, despite trying to prevent himself from it, felt his breathing grow heavy as she dabbed the wounds with alcohol. He looked away, trying to ignore it, and found himself extremely relieved when she said: "Done."

He turned to his left hand, finding it cleanly bandaged, almost as if she had done this before.

"Kick boxer," she said, as if reading his mind. "I'm used to taping up my hands and feet before a match. Now…" she put out her hand. "Gimme your other hand."

Cell hesitated, a part of him telling him to refuse. However, he looked at his left hand, cleanly bandaged and slightly free from pain, and gave her his other hand. She smiled, getting another cotton swab.

"I won't lie to you," she said, dabbing the cotton swab in alcohol. "This will hurt as all Hell."

"You don't know Hell…" he muttered.

"Huh?" she asked, nearly applying the alcohol-covered swab.

"Nothing," he answered, turning his head away.

Aisu stared, puzzled, however, proceeded with her job, cleaning the wounds as Cell tried to ignore the pain. Approximately half an hour later, and several fights in the mock rounds passing outside, Aisu had done his right hand, and both his feet, cleaning and binding them.

She laughed as he looked at his bound appendages.

"At least your feet won't get as dirty as they were before," she said.

He looked away. She was right, however, as during the course of the fight and during his eventful morning, Cell had walked barefoot the whole day. Before Aisu had bound his feet, she had told, or more commanded, him to at least soak his feet in water to clean the dirt. Much to his chagrin, he had done as she requested, and then she had cleaned and bound his feet. Now all that was left was his sprain.

"That's where the ice pack comes in!" she said, bending down and picking up the blue bottle. She walked over to his ankle, which by this point was already swelling, and placed the ice pack to it.

Cell's leg jerked at how cold it was, more than the pain, and he looked to her.

"It limits the swelling, or you didn't know that," she said, giggling.

He scowled, grabbing the bottle from her and pressing it to his leg. She sat upright, watching him with that same amusement.

"What?" he snapped.

"Nothing," she answered once again. "I just wish…"

"AISU SAKAGOSHIMA, WILL YOU REPORT TO THE ARENA. AISU SAKAGOSHIMA," said a voice over the PA system.

Cell saw her face light up.

"Great, I'm on!" she said, standing up and walking to the door. At the door, she turned to him and gave a grin. "Wish me luck!" With that, she exited into the morning light.

Cell grunted, pressing the ice pack harder to his ankle and feeling an overwhelming sense of relief to the area. He lifted the pack, noticing a significant decrease in the swelling. With that, he pressed it to his ankle again, wondering what other moron he would have to fight in this tournament.

It seemed the girl was right: this was very interesting…

* * *

**CRYSTAL **vs. **AISU SAKAGOSHIMA**

Aisu stepped up to the stage, seeing a woman waiting there impatiently. Aisu smiled apologetically.

"Gomen, I was helping someone out back – "

"I don't care," said the woman, shooting her a disgusted glare. "You're wasting precious time, _my_ precious time, might I add. Furthermore, why do I have to fight you? I could beat you in a second flat." She snapped her fingers, emphasising what she said.

Aisu looked slightly sceptical.

"I didn't mean to insult – "

"Stop your yabbering!" said Crystal, crossing her arms and smirking. "Get ready to fight!"

Aisu, unable to say anything else, silently reached to her back, opening the satchel that hung around her waist, and taking out a pair of black leather gloves. As she put them on, she moved into her stance, fists out before her, her right hand closer to her and her left out in front, in a silent assurance that she was ready to fight.

Crystal looked ready to explode from the self-confidence that emanated from her. Meanwhile, the commentator announced the fight to the audience, explaining the rules over again, as he was meant to. As the commentator continued talking, Cell tried to remain fixated upon his leg, but a greater part of him wanted to look at the fight drawing near. The commentator continued talking, and suddenly went quiet, the whole crowd going wild.

"Ready…" heard Cell.

"Tch," he scoffed, getting up and limping to the door. As he sat down, he could see the arena, Aisu's back to him and the other girl, Crystal, grinning cockily as the commentator yelled:

"FIGHT!"

At that, Crystal prepared to rush towards her opponent, but was beaten to it as Aisu charged forward, punching with her right hand. Crystal grabbed it, opening her mouth to state a sardonic retort. However, before she could say this retort, her head went snapping back as Aisu thrust out her left hand, ready with an open palm. Crystal went stumbling backwards, holding her face as Aisu went back into her stance.

Crystal looked up at her, angered and mortified that her face had been touched.

"NO ONE TOUCHES MY FACE!" she screeched, charging towards Aisu.

Aisu remained silent, standing and patiently waiting for her opponent. As Crystal neared, she rose her hand, the fingers clawed. As she swiped down, Aisu took a step back, gasping in pain as she felt Crystal's nails hit her arm. Crystal laughed, raising the hand that hit Aisu in the air and laughing in an airy matter. Aisu looked down at her arm, seeing the blood coming from four cuts across her bicep. She looked up as she heard Crystal talk.

"Like my nails," she said, showing off her long nails. "I just got them done for the tourny."

Aisu put a hand to her wound, staring gravely at the woman.

"It's a shame…" started Aisu.

Crystal looked sceptical.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

Aisu smiled.

"I stained your nails," ended Aisu.

Crystal gasped, looking at her fingers. Crystal's head then snapped up as she heard Aisu charging towards her. However, before Crystal could react, Aisu had reached her and jumped up, high into the air. Crystal merely watched as Aisu back-flipped and thrust out her two legs, the first kick landing squarely on Crystal's chin, the second hitting Crystal's chest. As Crystal fell to the ground, Aisu landed, assuming her stance once again.

Crystal stayed down, unable to move as she clutched her chest, winded.

The countdown began: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…

"PIN!" yelled the crowd.

Aisu lifted her hand, smiling to the masses, who roared in satisfaction. As Aisu turned around and walked out, she smiled at Cell, who stood near the doorway. Cell looked away, pressing the icepack to his sprain.

"So, how's the sprain?" asked Aisu, sitting opposite him once they had once again moved into the inner sanctum of the back room.

Cell grunted, moving around his foot.

"Better, I think," replied Aisu to her own question. "Ready for your next fight?"

Cell remained silent as he heard his name being called over the PA system.

"Good luck!" called out Aisu as he walked out of the room, ready to defeat yet another buffoon.


	6. The Semi Finals

**Redemption's Side**

**Disclaimer: **Dragonball Z and all its characters © Akira Toriyama, BIRD STUDIO/SHUEISHA, TOEI Animation. Licensed by FUNimation Production, Ltd. All Rights Reserved

**Disclaimer 2: **All fictional character © Eileen Ayling Setiawan (author) and any aliases she assumes (H-san, Hina-chan, etc…)

**Author's Note:** This takes place _after_ the first part of Masshiro na Yuki: Pure White Snow, my fanfiction about Kinoko, the female Saiya-jin. It's a filler of sorts.

**Author's Note 2: **This was inspired by vege-chan from deviantArt. Go visit her!

* * *

**Chapter Five:** The Semi-Finals

* * *

**Aisu's fighting ability, part one :**There will be many parts to this segment here. In this first segment, I will just give an overview of what Aisu Sakagoshima's fighting ability is like. Inspired by Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, I started thinking of a human fighter like Tifa, strong, sexy and feminine. That's when I began paralleling Aisu with Tifa. You see, by this time, Aisu had been created but could not fight. Yes… she was going to be the help-me-save-me girls. I then decided: what the Hell, I'll make her more stronger. Thus, Aisu's fighting ability came to life. Tifa has inspired me, and more and more inspirations come in each day. Part One finished.

* * *

Cell walked up to the arena, coming face-to-face with a man about the same size as him. Like Cell, he wore bandages on his feet and hands; however, his was more for show than anything else. Apart from the bandages, he wore practically nothing but a pair of red satin boxers. Cell stared sceptically, wondering how _anyone_ could take this person seriously.

His opponent gave a little grin, imitating Bruce Lee by flicking his nose and jumping about, his fists at the ready. Cell sighed, his whole body sagging with impatience.

"What's wrong, man?" asked his opponent. "That last fight wore you out?"

"Hardly," answered Cell, still as apathetic as ever.

"Ladies and gentlemen," began the commentator, arm once again going up into the air to titillate the audience. "This battle is between the two incredible fighters, Seru Jinzouningen and Aphis Leonold. Who shall win?"

The crowd roared, some calling for the fight.

"Ready…" began the commentator.

Aphis lowered ever so slightly as Cell remained stoic.

"FIGHT!" yelled the commentator.

Immediately, Aphis rushed towards Cell. As he reached Cell, he lunged for a punch. Cell merely sidestepped to the right, his right arm lashing out to hammer fist Aphis' head. However, his eyes went wide in surprise, as Aphis was nowhere to be seen. A whistle up caught Cell's attention as he looked up, seeing Aphis far above him. Next thing Cell knew, a sharp pain rang through his head as Aphis kicked him in the forehead, causing him to sprawl to the floor. Aphis flipped backwards, landing and grinning at his downed opponent.

"Had this one in the bag," he said, hands on hips. However, his expression changed from self-assured to incredulous as Cell flipped up, glaring at Aphis.

Aphis laughed.

"Nice one man," he said. "No one had ever come back up from that hit. Your head must be rock."

Cell did not say a word but merely glared. However, his forehead was throbbing as if he had been hit one two many times in the head. Aphis grew tired of this standoff and charged forward, once again his speed coming in extremely helpful. However, Cell was prepared. Aphis came in, his arm going back for a punch to the head. Cell ducked under, twisting his body to the side and kicking his legs out in the form of a scissor-kick. Aphis fell forward, tripping from the attack, allowing for Cell, who was underneath him, to grab him with his arms. Doing that, he fell onto his back, used his legs as a fulcrum, and threw Aphis hard. A yell signified Cell's perfect execution of the attack as Aphis was sent tumbling to the other end of the stage. However, before he reached the other end, he stopped himself.

"Phew," sighed Aphis. "Man, you nearly got me out of the – "

"Oi."

Aphis turned, eyes popping out of his sockets as he saw Cell standing over him. Before he knew it, Cell's arm had driven out, planting itself on Aphis' chest, and pushing him, head-over-heels, over the arena.

"ONCE AGAIN, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, SERU JINZOUNINGEN HAS WON!" yelled the commentator as the crowd went wild.

Cell looked down at Aphis, who sat at the bottom of the arena, looking upset.

"Next time," began Cell, as if something else was moving his mouth. "Don't just rely on your speed."

Aphis looked up, seeing Cell walk away. Serenely, Aphis smiled.

* * *

"Go Seru," said Trunks, clapping Cell on the back.

"Yeah, you were great!" agreed Goten, a hand on Cell's head and rubbing into the green locks.

"And you beat that jerk Tiger!" piped Pan, jumping up and down in front of the man.

Right then, Cell wished he could blow the world up. Mingling with the enemy? It was unhealthy.

"Well, it is the final punishment, and as such…" began Jaena.

Cell's annoyance increased tenfold.

_Great_, he thought. _I have three monkeys touching me and an ogre lecturing me_.

"WHAT?" said Jaena, her hair flaming up as her face turned red with anger. "I – YOU – I – YOU – "

_Inarticulate, now are we?_

Jaena screamed in frustration and disappeared in a puff of black smoke.

"One down…" muttered Cell.

"Huh?" said all three Saiya-jins.

"Nothing," muttered Cell, a visible annoyance vein on his head.

"C'mon, leave him alone," said the familiar voice of Aisu. She entered the back room, carrying a tray of drinks.

"We're just congratulating him," said Goten, leaning over and grabbing a can.

Aisu half pouted and half smiled as she walked further in.

"You've been congratulating him for 10 minutes," said Aisu, grabbing a can, and handing it to Pan, who, after thanking her, grabbed it and opened it, sipping the contents.

Trunks leaned over likewise, grabbing two cans and throwing one to Cell as he opened one himself.

"So, how many more matches?" asked Trunks, leaning on the wall.

"Yeah, these mock rounds are going longer than expected," said Goten, looking at the sheet Cell had previously been looking at.

"Well," began Aisu, opening the can and taking a sip. "I asked the announcer, and he said that the mocks are longer because there's more fighters."

"No shit," said Trunks, looking at the sheet in Goten's hands.

Aisu gave a wry smile. "Well," she continued. "Most of the fighters are quite crap actually. And plus, the announcer said there's going to be a surprise for the final mock round."

"Really? What?" asked Pan, looking excited.

Aisu shrugged. "Not sure," she replied. "Could be anything. He was really coy about it."

"Well, how many more battles?" asked Trunks again. "The less battles, the more closer we get to this 'surprise'".

"Well, I'm going up next, and if I remember, I was the last battle last round. So…"

"That means we're nearly finished," ended Trunks, nodding.

Aisu nodded also. "Un, the semi-finals are next, and then the finals."

"Great!" said Goten.

"Then we can see this surprise!" exclaimed Pan.

Cell sighed, opening his can and taking a long draft from it.

* * *

Cell stared at the ground, boredom starting to set in. Outside, he could hear the commentator.

"Aisu Sakagoshima wins!" said the announcer. Next thing he knew, Aisu came walking in, smiling down at him, tucking her gloves back into the back pocket of her utility belt and sitting down.

"You look bored," she said, stating the obvious.

Cell stared up at her sceptically before looking down at the floor again. Aisu smiled, reaching out and grabbing her bag. She opened it, getting out a small rectangular contraption with a dial upon it. The dial displayed various commands, whilst also boasting a familiar insignia. A big C encircled around a little c. Capsule Corporation.

"Their new mp3 player," informed Aisu as Cell stared at the thing. "Better than an ipod. Those things are overrated." She plugged in the headphones, handing it over to Cell.

Cell stared at it, unmoving. Aisu sighed.

"Where were you born, a cave?" she asked, leaning over and placing both headphones on his ears. She grabbed the main body and pressed in a few commands.

Cell stared at her, wondering what in the Hell she was doing. Suddenly, a sound blared through the phones. Cell's eyes widened in surprise. Aisu stared, giggling. Leaning over, she took off an headphone.

"We've got a lot of time before your next match," she said, putting one headphone on her ear. "So, in the meantime, let's listen to something. It'd get you away from boredom."

"Why?" asked Cell.

"Well… do you wanna be bored?"

Cell stared blankly. Aisu sighed.

"Guess you weren't informed. Before the final mock round, the real tournament starts all over again. See for yourself, Goten's fighting his niece right now," stated Aisu, pointing outside.

Cell could not believe it. One minute he was fighting, the next…

More waiting.

* * *

After several rounds from the real tournament, with Goten losing to his niece, it ended with Satan as the winner. As Satan stood before the crowd, they cheered for their champion, chanting his name. Within the back room, Cell absently turned up the volume, drowning out the chanting.

"Hey," said Aisu, grinning at him. "Didn't know you liked this band."

Cell remained silent, aggravated at the crowd's infatuation with this Satan. What did he do anyway? Why was he so important? Why did they call him the World Champion anyway?

"Because everyone believes he defeated you," said Jaena, matter-of-factly, as she stood on his left shoulder where there was no headphone positioned.

It took Cell a while to process this information. As it suddenly dawned on him what this information possessed, he stood up suddenly, the headphone ripping out of his ear, as he yelled as loud as he possibly could:

"WHAT?"

Aisu looked up, shocked.

"Uh… what's wrong?"

Cell stood there, all eyes turned on him. He then sat down, going eerily quiet. He then heard a giggle beside him. Soon, the giggle turned to a chuckle and then, a laugh. Suddenly, Aisu was laughing hard, holding her stomach with one arm as her other hand covered her mouth.

Cell watched, a sceptical expression on her face.

"What?" he asked.

Aisu shook her head, still in fits of laughter.

"No… nothing," she said, the laughs slowly turning into giggling. "Nothing," she said, a look of contentment on her face. "You looked so cute," she ended.

Cell looked away, scowling, but his cheeks slowly turning a shade of pink.

"Hey man!" said a familiar voice: Aphis.

Cell and Aisu looked up.

"You're up man," he said, pointing to the arena.

Cell stood up, avoiding Aisu's glance and walking past Aphis to the arena.

"Cute," he mumbled. "Preposterous…"

* * *

Cell entered the arena, his eyes catching sight of his opponent, wearing traditional Oriental clothing. He stood there solemnly, watching as Cell entered, a knowing look in his eyes and an assurance of victory in his gait as he walked towards him. Cell stared sceptically as he came forward, his muscles involuntarily tensing.

"Nice to meet you, Jinzouningen-san," said the man, bowing down low. He stood again, a serene smile planted on his face. "Let this fight be a good one, ne?"

Cell watched, his expression earnest as the man walked to his side of the arena once again and stood there. As the announcer rose his hand and said:

"Ready…"

The man crouched down slightly, his hand moving behind him.

"FIGHT!"

He ran forward, slow at first then picking up speed. As he swung the hand that was behind him out, Cell blocked it, jumping back and twisting around in mid air, landing a blow to the back of his head as he did a turning kick in the air. The man went forward a few steps, stumbling, then stopped, and turning around to face Cell. He suddenly looked more interested than before.

Cell stood earnestly once again, his expression unreadable, however, deep inside he knew: this man thought he could be easily defeated. The crowd roared as both men stood on the arena, standing and staring. Soon, a chorus began, the crowd riled up due to the previous win of their Champion and the coming finale of the exciting mock rounds.

"… fight, fight, fight, fight…" began the chorus, low and concentrated in one area. However, this created a ripple effect, as suddenly, the chorus grew louder and more people cheered on.

"… fight, fighT, figHT, fiGHT, fight, FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT FIGHT… !"

However, despite the incessant chanting, the two fighters remained staring at one another, trying to analyse the other. It was the opponent who moved first, bringing his two hands together, however, leaving a space between them, so that they were barely touching. In this action, he looked almost as if he were praying. Cell stared at him, sceptical. What in the name of Hell was he doing? Was this some sort of game to him?

Cell believed he had this one in the bag… until a spark ignited between the man's fingertips. The crowd went crazy.

People screamed from all locations, feeling the familiar heaviness of adrenaline in the air as a signal for the imminent fight. Cell remained staring at the man's fingers, unbelieving what he saw.

Was that ki power? Could this man… this human… use ki power?

"Well, if you must know…" said Jaena.

Cell was too far gone to swat her away. Instead, he listened with half his mind concentrated on her talking. It was only until she said, "magneto kinesis" that his head snapped in her direction.

"What?" he hissed, trying not to attract the man's attention, which was not so hard as he was busy gathering more electricity.

"He can control the magnetic field. It's not his own life energy."

Cell then looked to the man, who now stood with a ball of electricity before him, the light illuminating the young man's features. He then pulled back his arm, and threw. Cell watched as the ball went flying straight at him.

"Move it Seru!" yelled Goten from the sidelines.

Cell snapped out of his daze and before the ball could hit him with full contact, he dodged out of the way, tumbling to his left. However, the ball managed to singe his arm… painfully. Cell immediately grabbed his arm, clutching it as he felt the deep throbbing pain of a burn on his now human skin.

The man, his opponent, laughed at him, charging yet another ball of energy. As it charged to its full capacity, he shot it again, this time firing off several rounds. Cell dodged them as best he could, however, found himself still getting the brunt of the electrical power. One got his cheek as Cell barely dodged one aimed at his head.

Meanwhile, Aisu had walked up to the announcer and was heatedly arguing with him.

"Isn't this illegal!" she yelled, motioning towards the fight.

"I… well… it's not really a weapon. He… can do that on his own… He's magneto kinetic."

Aisu looked to the fight, gasping as Cell got one right in the chest. Cell went down.

"Seru-san!" she yelled, heading towards the arena.

The commentator grabbed her arm.

"Not yet, he might still get up."

Aisu glared but obeyed, turning to watch the match. Sure enough, Cell was beginning to stand, his limbs shaking with every amount of effort he put in doing this one simple action. As he stood on his feet, the crowd went wild once again, screaming and chanting Cell's human name. Cell glared at the man, who looked very impressed.

"I'm in awe with your endurance my friend," said the man. However, a slightly sadistic look crossed his friendly, handsome features. "But I cannot let you win."

Again, there was a ball of energy in his hand. Again, he released it with relentless force. However, this time, Cell had had enough. As the ball of energy rushed towards him, Cell ran towards it and its owner. As the sphere neared him, Cell careened around it, feeling his side get burnt in the process. He ignored the pain and continued running, however, as he neared the man, he shot Cell at point blank range. There was a loud explosion and a billow of smoke. The crowd went deadly silent.

Slowly, but surely, the smoke cleared. As it did, the crowd slowly started to rise in volume: first a murmur, then a babble, then finally, a roar as they beheld their winner. Cell stood, fist out, with his opponent out of the ring. He pulled back, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, spitting blood onto the floor, and walking out. Meanwhile, his opponent sat up, holding his head. He looked up as a shadow cast over him.

Aisu looked down at him.

"Ah, Aisu-kun. And how is your father these days?"

"Sensei's fine, Spark, thankyou very much. And don't think I don't know what you're up to. Magneto kinetic my arse. You're just lucky I'm not a snitch, unlike you."

With that, she turned on her heels and stalked away.

* * *

"Ladies and gentleman!" started the announcer. "We have one finalist!"

The audience went crazy, cheering and roaring for the finalist.

"SERU JINZOUNINGEN!" announced the announcer.

The crowd roared, screaming and yelling for their first finalist.

"And now," said the announcer, more quietly, so the throng quietened down. "Here's the final semi-final. Aisu Sakagoshima versus Captain Kawaii."

_Captain Kawaii_ thought Aisu, looking sceptically at the person before her.

The man flexed his muscles as the girls in the crowd screamed and swooned. Aisu rolled her eyes, incredulous to the antics of this fighter. Did he really think he could fight in that costume?

Aisu eyed the apparel: tight, white spandex that looked more like a woman's swimming costume than a fighter's suit… or something fit for a weightlifter.

"Maybe he is a weightlifter," mumbled Aisu, hand on chin and thinking. She looked down pondering, then looked up as she felt his eyes on her.

The man winked at her. Aisu rolled her eyes again. She had to admit, he was okay looking, but he was so…

Aisu stared.

… Egomaniacal.

"Ready…" said the commentator.

The crowd roared in agreement.

Aisu got ready, her gloves already on as she crouched into her stance. The man also got ready, putting on an extravagant display of stupidity as he kind of flapped into his pose. Aisu grew a large sweat drop on the back of her head.

_How did _he_ get to the semi-finals?_ wondered Aisu, trying to keep her mind focused yet failing dismally at said action.

"FIGHT!" said the announcer, bringing his hand down.

Aisu charged forward; however, the man, Captain Kawaii, looked to her and grinned, placing his hand out, sidestepping and grabbing her arm as she missed a punch. Aisu turned her head to glare at the man, who grinned back at her, and threw her to the opposite side of the ring. Aisu tumbled, but stopped herself from falling.

"He's not taking this seriously," said Aisu, her defences down as she stared at the man incredulously, who seemed intent on riling up the women in the audience by flexing his muscles.

"Baka," said Aisu, walking towards him.

Kawaii turned around, smiling at her.

"If you think," began Aisu, wagging a finger in his face. "That I am going to just collapse at your feet like some love struck puppy, then you are dearly mistaken. I will not just lie down and let you win just because you're "kawaii"." Aisu used her fingers to emphasise the work kawaii. She then crossed her arms, leaning over so that she was in his face. "Are we fighting or not?"

Kawaii smiled down at her still. Aisu noticed that every minute his smile was gaining in sleaziness.

"You know, if you were a cup size bigger…"

Aisu gasped.

"I just might go out with you."

Inside her, there was a raging, roaring animal: 'I am woman, hear me roar'. Well, in this case, it was more of a…

BITCH SLAP!

Kawaii was sent flying to the edge of the ring and over it as Aisu glared. Her arm up, infuriated beyond anything she had been before. The crowd did not know what was going on, as they could not hear a word, however, they cheered for the girl as she turned on her heels, stuck her head up, and walked away towards the back room.


	7. The Final Round

**Redemption's Side**

**Disclaimer: **Dragonball Z and all its characters © Akira Toriyama, BIRD STUDIO/SHUEISHA, TOEI Animation. Licensed by FUNimation Production, Ltd. All Rights Reserved

**Disclaimer 2: **All fictional character © Eileen Ayling Setiawan (author) and any aliases she assumes (H-san, Hina-chan, etc…)

**Author's Note:** This takes place _after_ the first part of Masshiro na Yuki: Pure White Snow, my fanfiction about Kinoko, the female Saiya-jin. It's a filler of sorts.

**Author's Note 2: **This was inspired by vege-chan from deviantArt. Go visit her!

**Author's Note 3:** If anyone is wondering: yes, I was inspired by Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children

* * *

**Chapter Six:** The Final Round

* * *

**Capsule Corporation : **commonly known as CC, is owned by the Briefs family. Dr. Briefs, Bulma's father, founded this huge corporation, and after much success, handed over the company to his daughter and genius inventor, Bulma Briefs. As president of Capsule Corporation, Bulma manages the company and everything that goes on within it. The reason for Trunks' dread whenever the company is mentioned is due to the fact that he knows that, one day, his mother will hand him the huge responsibility of handling the company, which means only one thing: growing up.

* * *

As Aisu reached the back room, she saw Trunks, Goten, and Pan waiting inside.

"Remind me _never _to get you angry," said Goten.

Aisu stuck her tongue out at the Son and took off her gloves, tucking them into the back pocket of her utility belt. She then reached for her bag, pulling out her water bottle and taking three big gulps from it.

"Where's Seru?" asked Aisu as she finished, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

"Ah, Seru was over at the water fountain last I saw him," said Trunks, pointing to the back.

"Why'd he go there?" asked Aisu, putting her water bottle in her bag and hitching the satchel on her shoulder.

All three shrugged.

Aisu laughed.

"Bye," she said, walking in that direction.

"Bye," replied all three in unison.

* * *

"Seru?" asked Aisu, looking around the secluded outer area.

The stalls, usually brimming with life, were now empty as most had retired after the Champion had been announced. Cell sat in the middle of this outer area, on a brown bench, facing the other way, as the fountain splashed down, creating a melodic trickling sound.

"What are you doing here?" asked Aisu, walking to him and sitting down next to him.

He remained silent, gazing out absently. Aisu's brow rose in curiosity.

"Oi," she said, snapping her fingers in front of his face.

Cell turned his head, looking slightly annoyed.

"You're in a world of your own," stated Aisu, sitting back and propping her elbows on the back of the seat.

Cell grunted.

"You win?" he asked.

Aisu smiled nodding.

"So I have to fight you?"

"Ee," she said.

"I'm not going easy on you. Is that why you're here?" he asked, looking at her suspiciously.

Aisu shook her head.

"No way! I want a real fight," she replied, pumping her fists up and grinning.

Cell sighed, standing. Aisu stared, incredulous.

"Where are you going?"

"Finals," he answered simply, walking into the distance.

Aisu stared for several minutes, watching his form leave.

"Chotto!" cried Aisu, standing and running after him.

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen," began the announcer.

The crowd cheered, knowing this was the final of the mocks.

"This is the final!" continued the announcer.

The cheering grew louder.

"Despite already finding the winner for the _real_ main event," stated the announcer. "Who will be the winner for these exciting mock rounds? Will it be the new fighter on the scene, Seru Jinzouningen!"

The crowd roared at his name.

"He already has fans," said Goten, nudging Trunks, who smirked.

"Or will it be the charming Aisu Sakagoshima!" yelled the announcer.

Again, the crowd roared.

"I dunno," said Trunks to Goten. "Ai-chan's got some fans too."

Aisu and Cell faced one another on the arena. Aisu smiled at him, that same friendly smile. Cell sighed, wanting to get this over and done with. He was not even getting anything out of this…

"However, ladies and gentlemen," said the announcer. "We will have to take these two away for a little while."

There was a murmur among the audience as an airship appeared above, landing in the middle of the ring. The door of the airship opened and two officials came in, escorting both fighters into the airship.

"What's going on?" asked Pan, tugging on her uncle's pants.

"I dunno," replied Goten, looking at the scene sceptically.

Trunks, too, looked at the scene sceptically, but grew slightly blue as he saw the insignia upon the airship: a big C encircled around a little c.

"Capsule Corporation?" questioned Trunks.

"Why, what's wrong?" asked Goten.

"I dunno, but I think my kaa-san might," said Trunks, looking up at the booth where their family and friends now resided.

Bulma laughed to her self, a private, evil little laugh. Vegeta, who had now moved up there due to the fact that he had already competed, looked at his mate suspiciously.

"Ano… Bulma-san?" began Gohan.

"Hn," she began.

"What, pray tell, is going on?" ended Vegeta.

Bulma laughed another evil, little laugh. The whole party sweat dropped nervously.

* * *

"What on Earth is going on?" asked Aisu, leaning over into the driver's seat and peering out through the window to see if she could establish their destination.

"Just sit back and relax, young lady," said an official, waving her away.

Aisu pouted, sitting back and looking out her respective window. Meanwhile, Cell did the same thing. However, he wondered just where they were taking them. This was ridiculous. Whatever happened with the ring?

However, before he could ponder any other similar thoughts, the airship landed. The door opened and revealed sprawling green pastures. The two exited, looking around confused.

"You two stay here," said the official who has sat in the passenger seat. "Do not move, at all."

"But, what's going on?" asked Aisu.

"Don't worry, you will soon find out," said the man. He reached into his robes, removing two wristwatch-looking devices.

"Wear these!" he yelled as the door started closing and the airship lifted up. "You have to wear them to fight in the final round!"

With that, the airship lifted off the land and soared back to the direction of the arena.

"OI!" yelled Aisu, holding the two devices. She peered at them, then back at the disappearing airship.

"No point," said Cell, sitting down. "They're gone."

"Do you always obey people?" asked Aisu, sitting down opposite him, hugging her legs and leaning her head on them as she gazed at the gadgets.

Cell did not answer, but merely turned his face away, looking at the tumbling, rolling green hills. A slight wind picked up as it billowed both fighters' hair, making them dance in the wind. Hers a hazelnut brown, his emerald green.

"Wow," said Aisu, crawling towards him.

He turned towards her, taken a back by how close she was now. She reached out and grabbed a lock of his hair, observing it.

"Is your hair naturally green?" she asked.

"Uh… I…" he replied.

Idiot. Why was he acting like an idiot?

"Yes," hissed Jaena's voice, but she was nowhere to be found.

"Yes," mimicked Cell.

"Cool," she answered, sitting back on her knees. "Wish I had naturally funky colour hair." She sighed, then placed one of the strange gizmos before Cell.

Cell gazed at her, then looked down, picking the gadget up.

"Says we're supposed to wear them," she said, smiling at him.

Cell placed the watch on, despite his chagrin of such trivial things, and wondered why she was always so… happy.

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are sorry for the inconvenience," said the announcer.

The crowd looked on in confusion, as did the fighters in the back room.

"But we are introducing a new way of setting up the arena, which seems more unlimited than the usual ring."

The crowd seemed more interested, some leaning in to listen despite the fact that the announcer was on loudspeaker.

"Made by the genius, Bulma Briefs, of the infamous Capsule Corporation," began the announcer. "This arena utilises the latest technology and simulated environments to bring fighters into a new world of holographic, yet realistic, scenarios. In each scenario, there are many different cameras, from robotic cameras that hover in the air and watch from above, to more embedded cameras, which record from different angles on the ground level. This then allows for a more realistic view of the battle for the whole audience!"

The throng of people packed in the stadium screamed excitedly, some standing and applauding, others whistling and pumping their fists in the air.

"Woah, Trunks-kun," said Goten, turning to his best friend. "Your kaa-san made that?"

Trunks sighed.

"Kaa-san… always the elaborate one…"

"Now," began the commentator as the crowd quietened down. "For the battle…"

Suddenly, as if by magic, a hologram appeared before the audience, showing the sprawling green fields of the location both Cell and Aisu had been transported to. They saw the two fighters sitting there; Aisu talking as Cell merely listened. The crowd laughed.

"Let me just…" the announcer took something out of his back pocket and pressed a blue button. Suddenly, something truly amazing happened.

* * *

"So, what do you intend to do after the…" Aisu stopped, looking around as the environment around her rapidly changed. She stood up, as did Cell, as they looked around.

"What in the name of Hell?" asked Cell, as the green pastures began to flash in and out.

Suddenly, with a slight whirring sound, the environment morphed. There was a deep rumbling in the ground as pillars shot up from locations that were merely grass and weed. One location was right where Aisu stood. Aisu yelled as the pillar rose up, stopped just before it hit the ceiling. She looked down seeing Cell staring around at the developing pews around him. He yelled as a pew appeared below him, and then jumped off into the aisle between the columns of pews. Aisu did likewise, jumping off the pillar. She looked around, mystified at the building around her. The grounds were tiled with grey, the walls the same colour. Large arched windows covered the walls, stain glassed and each reflecting different pictures of angels. The light from outside reflected off these stain glass windows, casting a beautiful kaleidoscope of colours between the two fighters. The pews were all lined up neatly in rows and columns, made of a dark brown mahogany wood. As Aisu looked up the aisle, her face lit up, seeing natural light shining through the broken roofing. She ran forwards towards the opening, and into the patch of flowers that grew there. She turned to face Cell, a glow on her face at such beauty.

"It's a church Seru!" she said, running to him and grabbing his hands.

Cell looked at her face, wondering why she was so… happy. Yes, it was a church. But what was so important about a church?

"Fighters," said a voice from the resounding emptiness of the church.

Both fighters looked around, Aisu letting go of Cell's hands. It was the announcer.

"Welcome to the Capsule Corporation Holographic Arena Simulation, also knows as CCHAS. In a few moments, you will be the first two fighters to test out this prototype version of CCHAS. Around you there are cameras, floating…"

The two fighters looked around, unable to see anything of the sort, not even through the opening in the roof.

"However, you cannot possibly see them," said the announcer.

They stopped looking.

"Furthermore, the typical rules for the Tenkaichi Budoukai still apply, so no poking your opponent in the eyes, no use of weapons on you, and absolutely no kicking below the belt, as that is downright mean. However, there is an extra rule especially for this arena: you can use anything as long as it is _part_ of the environment. This does not mean you can use weapons on you, such as knives, swords, hammers, et cetera, as this will lead to instant disqualification."

Aisu smiled, looking interested. Cell was also interested, however, did not show it. He merely gazed around emotionless.

* * *

The announcer stood in the middle, looking as if he too were in the church; however, he merely stood in the hologram. The two fighters could not see him. He wondered at the splendour of the church and its detail, however refrained from being too much in wonder as he continued reciting the guidelines to this particular fight.

"In this fight, you cannot _possibly_ get a ring out. Therefore, the officials have come up with another way to decide the winner and/or loser. On their wrists, both fighters should be wearing a device, specifically designed for CCHAS. This device monitors the number of times a fighter hits their opponent and the strength and then calculates that into a point percentage. The better the hit, the higher the point. Therefore, the way to decide the winner is as simple as this: the first to reach a Strike Score of 12500 wins! If the audience were to look up, they can see a scoreboard. Seru Jinzouningen is Fighter 1# and Aisu Sakagoshima is Fighter 2#. Their Strike Score will be shown on this board."

Meanwhile, the audience marvelled at the church before them. It surrounded the whole of the arena, including the grassy area and the beginning of the seating spaces. However, unlike the fighters who felt the arena as a solid, tangible location, to the audience and fighters down below, it was merely a hologram. They wondered at the splendour of Bulma's work, looking just as mystified as Aisu did as they looked at the towering columns and the intricate detail upon the stain glass windows.

"Wow," said Pan. She turned to Trunks, grabbing his hands and jumping up and down as Trunks stared at her. "Your kaa-san's sugoi Trunks-san!"

Trunks sighed as Goten patted his best friend on the back. However, inwardly, Trunks was proud of this. It was revolutionary. Even he believed it was real for a split second. Trunks, Goten and Pan saw the church at ground level, the point of view of the two fighters.

Pan laughed, seeing butterflies flying about the place, one landing on the wall in front of them.

"Huh?" asked Pan, looking closer at the insect.

"It's a camera," said Trunks, also leaning closer.

"Why?" asked Pan.

Trunks shrugged.

"Well, they need to transmit somehow."

"Cool," exclaimed Goten, gazing at the butterfly and at the surrounding scenario.

* * *

"Hn, I like this," said Aisu, gazing around at the area once again. "Gives some freedom, ne?"

Cell remained silent, however, looked around at the surrounding area also. He wondered just how much damage he could lay waste on this scene whilst fighting.

"Hey, Seru," called Aisu.

Cell turned to her.

"I have a proposition," she continued.

"Really?" asked Cell, arms crossed and looking slightly curious.

"Un, you see, we don't know each other much," she said. "How about, as we fight, each time we hit the floor equals a fact about our life? If we ever smash someone into the walls, that's a private fact. And the columns are the same as the floor. How about it?"

Despite Cell's incredulity of this idea, it sounded quite interesting. Plus it would give him an excuse to hit her into the walls and floors.

"Fine," he answered.

"Great!" she said, clasping her hands in front of her. "Oh, however…" she wagged a finger at him. "I don't want some pansy smack, I want impact!" Aisu punched her fist into her other, grinning widely at Cell.

Cell was beginning to think there was more than just happiness to this girl.

"Fighters, in your positions," said the announcer, interrupting Cell's thoughts.

Aisu nodded, getting serious and reaching for the gloves in her utility belt back pocket. She slipped them on and then assumed her stance as the announcer stated:

"Ready… FIGHT!"

Aisu charged forward, punching with her right hand. Cell blocked it, grabbing the fist with his left hand. As he did however, Aisu pulled back her left hand and sent it flying towards his head, ready with an open palm. However, Cell blocked it, his eyes lowering as the familiarity struck him.

This was the same move she used on that other woman!

However, Cell did not expect the three next moves. Aisu dealt three consecutive punches, each one dealing damage and heightening Aisu's Strike Score. The last punch pushed Cell back, his feet sliding on the floor. As he regained composure, he saw Aisu coming towards him. She spun around, dealing a roundhouse kick to his left side. Cell blocked it, grabbing her leg, and pulled her in, punching her in the stomach. She went flying back, however, managed to stop herself from colliding into the far wall by crouching low and minimising the speed of the hit. She rose, staring at him solemnly, her fists lank. She shook them about, as if preparing them for the next round, then her fists enclosed.

**Strike Score Fighter 2#: 1000**

**Strike Score Fighter 1#: 150**

"You're different to other fighters somehow," said Aisu.

"I get that," merely answered Cell.

Aisu smiled solemnly, briefly, and then charged in, crying out as she dealt a low scissor kick, using her hand as leverage to deal a greater blow. Cell jumped over, landing on the other side, and turned around, yet, as he did, he was hit in the face by another blow from Aisu. This one sent him flying to the wall. He hit it, the blow winding him briefly, but not enough for Aisu as he somersaulted backward, barely missing a kick from the girl. Aisu turned her kick into a wall jump as she jumped from the wall to the nearby pillar, lunging off and kicking Cell to the far end of the church. Cell went tumbling backwards, however, managed to save himself gracefully by flipping.

He landed, looking up and eyes going wide as Aisu came shooting forward, jumping up and dealing a high front kick to his head. As his body went up from the momentum, Aisu came down with a crescent kick, and wasting no time, landed and flipped backwards, her two legs hitting Cell consecutively in the face. Aisu landed as Cell did, Cell shaking his head and trying to get rid of the ringing in his ears. Aisu, always the prudent one, charged forward, arm in the air. Cell raised his arm likewise and both forearms met, the fighters staring into one another. Cell was the first to react, pushing Aisu back as he followed through with his risen arm.

Aisu went sprawling back, crying out, but stopped herself. As she looked up, she felt a sudden pain engulfing her stomach, winding her and pushing her back as Cell dealt a strong front kick to her stomach. One eye forced shut, Aisu stood once again as Cell recoiled backwards, about to deal another blow. Aisu's eyes went wide as she saw his fist lunge back and start closing in. She ducked, Cell's fist hitting the church wall behind her and showering gravel and dust upon her. Her eyes lowered, her arm hitting his away. As Cell's arm went flying back from her hit, his torso was prone. Aisu lunged at him, grabbing his chest and pushing him backwards. She then used the downward force of gravity to do the rest as she pushed off him.

However, she underestimated Cell's endurance. She felt two hands on her ankles and gasped as Cell landed from the blow she had dealt him, swinging her around two revolutions and knocking her into some pews at the same time. He then sent her flying to the far wall. Like Cell, she managed to save herself gracefully by flipping, in mid-air, and landing on the wall. Using the momentum from his throw, she shot forward towards Cell. Cell raised his fist to deal a blow, but missed Aisu as she grabbed his face and still shooting forwards, hurled him into the floor of the middle aisle within the church, giving a loud cry as she did so. She then landed, skidding across the ground and turning around in time to see Cell running towards her. Aisu shot towards him, circling around him, turning 180 degrees and throwing him into the pews. A final crash resounded the ending of the second round as Aisu landed and turned to face her opponent, seeing nothing but wooden mahogany.

**Strike Score Fighter 2#: 2450**

Aisu heaved in and out, the adrenaline coursing through her body. She turned to the natural light pouring in, leaning her head back and enjoying the natural wonder of the place. Suddenly, a big bang resounded behind her and she snapped her head in that direction, seeing Cell standing amongst the debris. Like her, his chest heaved in and out from their previous bout. Stepping out of the debris, he swept back his hair, taking a glimpse at his Strike Score and smirking.

**Strike Score Fighter 1#: 2500**


	8. Nine

**Redemption's Side**

**Disclaimer: **Dragonball Z and all its characters © Akira Toriyama, BIRD STUDIO/SHUEISHA, TOEI Animation. Licensed by FUNimation Production, Ltd. All Rights Reserved

**Disclaimer 2: **All fictional character © Eileen Ayling Setiawan (author) and any aliases she assumes (H-san, Hina-chan, etc…)

**Author's Note:** This takes place _after_ the first part of Masshiro na Yuki: Pure White Snow, my fanfiction about Kinoko, the female Saiya-jin. It's a filler of sorts.

**Author's Note 2: **This was inspired by vege-chan from deviantArt. Go visit her!

* * *

**Chapter Seven:** Nine

* * *

**Capsule Corporation Holographic Area Simulation :** also known as CCHAS. This is Bulma's "brain child" to an all-new fighting system. Fighters get to battle in real-time, simulated environments, where there are no restrictions to the boundaries of the fight. The environments can be anything from a location on Earth to an all-new planet. However, still following Tenkaichi Budoukai rules, fighters cannot use weapons on them, kick their opponent below the belt, or poke their opponent in the eyes. This rule is supported via hidden cameras about the arena that can monitor both the fight and the combatants.

* * *

The crowd was roaring in agreement to the previous bout, enjoying each and every moment of the final round. The snacks, the previous win of the Champion, and new invention of Capsule Corporation fuelled most of the excitement, however, it was enough to create a buzz unlike any other. The thrill was so big that even the commentator was feeling it in the gut of his stomach every time the fighters exchanged blows.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" yelled the announcer, his arm springing up dramatically. "Seru Jinzouningen has managed to gain the upper hand!"

The crowd roared once again. Meanwhile, Goten and Pan looked perplexedly at the SS.

"I… don't get it…" said Goten.

"Yeah," agreed Pan.

Trunks chuckled.

"It's got nothing to do with who's winning and who's losing. It's based on what they did during the fight," explained Trunks, grinning. "My kaa-san's ingenious…"

"Huh?" said both Sons in unison.

Trunks chuckled.

"Well, the whole crowd is confused. The commentator might explain," said Trunks.

Surely enough, the commentator raised the microphone to his mouth once again.

"Seru Jinzouningen has surpassed Aisu Sakagoshima through his skill in countering her attack. Due to such ability, the SS Counter has given more points to Seru, and therefore, he has been able to surpass Aisu. This match is getting exciting folks!"

The crowd murmured in anticipation, watching the battle before them. Meanwhile, inside the simulated cathedral, Aisu stared at the score incredulously.

"2500?" she questioned. "No way!"

Cell smirked, putting his arm down and gazing at her. Aisu shook her head, yet held an expression of amusement upon her face, as she heard the announcer explaining the reasons why to the audience.

"Skill, ne?" she mused. "Well, I have to admit, your moves are quite awesome."

Cell smirked, silent, then rotated his head, releasing the tension in his neck. A resounding crack followed the action.

"Let's go," he said, smirking as he grabbed a pew with both of his hands. Like a discus thrower, he rotated 360 degrees and threw the wooden seat at her.

As the seat went careening forward, Aisu's gaze grew earnest and she tensed her body, putting strength into her arm and smashing the pew as it came towards her. The debris from the shattered pew scattered around her, causing Aisu's hair to flutter up to the left. However, the sudden appearance of Cell before her caused her expression to change from intensity to surprise. Her hair billowed backwards as Cell's smirk filled her vision and pain emanated from her stomach. Next thing she knew, she was sprawling backwards into the field of flowers, the petals spraying upwards in her wake. For a few minutes, Aisu remained in the field, holding and cringing at the pain in her stomach and watching the petals float slowly downwards towards her. Some fluttered onto her face, a single petal landing on her cheek. As the pain started fading, she remained lying down, looking up at the blue sky through the broken church ceiling. Slowly, she reached for the petal on her cheek and grabbed it delicately between her forefinger and thumb. She observed the petal, looking as the sun shone through it and the veins emerged from the said light. Next thing she knew, Cell was standing over her, blocking the sunlight and looking down as her. She removed the petal from her line of sight and looked up at him, looking amused.

"You hit me quite hard," she said.

He gazed down at her silently and solemnly, looking at the petal in her hand. Aisu chuckled.

"Thinking," she said, sitting up.

"Does this mean I win," he stated, despite his intonation.

Aisu chuckled.

"You would want that, wouldn't you?" replied Aisu, using her arms to lunge up. Her lunge was so strong that she was able top deal a kick to Cell's chin and jump over him.

Cell went tumbling backwards, however, managed to stop himself falling down. He growled, grabbing his chin and, snapping his head behind him, glaring at her. Aisu smiled, now standing behind Cell and massaging her wrists.

"Don't worry Seru, I'm just playing the game," she said, sticking her tongue out.

Cell grunted in amusement, turning around to face her.

"I have another proposition," he said, his hand dropping to his sides.

Aisu looked interested, gazing at him curiously.

"Oh, really?"

"Every successful object thrown," began Seru.

"Object thrown," interrupted Aisu.

"Equals the same amount as that of a wall collision," he ended, as if she never interrupted.

Aisu's eyebrows went up in amusement.

"Wow, that sounds good," she commented. "In that case…" In that instance, Aisu's foot rose off the ground and slammed hard on the wooden floor, connecting with the central point of a floorboard. Her strength was so great that the floorboard directly beneath her foot smashed in half and the debris went flying up towards her. As it did, she spun and kicked the broken piece of wood towards Cell. Cell swatted the piece of wood away, however, he did not expect the second one as it collided into his head. Cell yelled in pain, squatting down and holding his forehead where the floorboard connected with his head. He then grew wary of Aisu's laughter echoing throughout the cathedral. He gazed up at her, one eye forced shut due to the pain.

"Sorry," said Aisu between bouts of laughter. "But your expression was hilarious."

Cell growled, standing with one hand still on his forehead. Aisu sighed, smiling at him.

"Well, don't just stand there," said Aisu, assuming her stance.

"You want to fight?" asked Cell, crouching low. "Let's fight!"

Cell went careening forward. As he neared Aisu, he spun around and dealt a roundhouse kick to her ribs. Aisu blocked and grabbed his legs, spinning around and throwing him behind her, switching their positions. Cell stumbled slightly from the attack but managed to save himself and come forward once again. He punched Aisu with his right hand, who blocked and grabbed his hand. She then countered with a punch with her right hand. As Aisu did before him, he grabbed her hand. They were now both locked, each one pushing against the other. Aisu smiled at him.

"Five," she said.

Cell looked into her doe eyes, confused.

"What?" he questioned.

"Five facts – two about your life, three about your private life."

Cell remained fixated on her eyes, musing about this fact. He then felt her hands squeeze his, the grip tightening. In the few moments it took him to realise what was happening, he lay winded on her knee, his head over her shoulder and a look of shock on his face. For some strange reason, a sudden sweet smell invaded his senses before a shock reverberated throughout his back. She had smashed him onto the floor, her hands on his hands, straddling him. She grinned, standing up. He suddenly felt hot.

"Six," she said, holding up her hand to symbolise the number and winking at him.

He sat up, a hand running through his head. She giggled, giving him a hand.

"C'mon," she said.

He ignored her hand, standing on his own accord. She gave him a wry grin and looked at her watch.

**Strike Score Fighter 2#: 2900**

As he dusted himself off, he also took a glance at his watch.

**Strike Score Fighter 1#: 3100**

Aisu grinned.

"You're winning," she stated.

Cell grunted, silently assuming his stance: a conglomeration of both Piccolo and the Kamessennin style. Aisu looked slightly curious at his stance, however, assumed hers also, remaining serious. They remained in their stances for quite some time, as if testing which one would move first. Around them, the church bustled with life. The smell of the flowers wafted around the place as a wind came in through the broken roof, picking up their aroma. All forms of insect-life scattered about the place, consisting of bees, butterflies and dragonflies. Nearby them, a butterfly rested its weary wings on the nearby flowerbed, flexing them in and out and flashing its beautiful colours of red, orange and black. Slowly, the fluttering grew more intense, and with a graceful sweep, it flew up in the air. As the butterfly's legs left the petals of the flower, the atmosphere that had settled around the two fighters was broken, and with that, both ran forward towards each other with a loud cry. As they reached each other, Cell lunged out with his right arm. Aisu ducked, sweeping the floor in a low kick. Cell jumped, flipped over Aisu, and dealt a backhand fist to the girl. Aisu lifted up her arm to block and the two remained there, standing back-to-back.

As they stood there, Aisu gained the initiative by quickly turning around and grabbing Cell's, twisting him around in an Aikido-like throw. Cell landed on his back, winded and cringing, however, before Aisu's nearing fist could land its blow on his face, he rolled out of the way, falling into the flowerbed. Aisu followed after him as he flipped up, landing on his feet. As she came forward, she cuffed him with her left hand, which Cell blocked with both hands. He threw away her fist, coming in with a hit of his own, which Aisu was able to block. Soon, they were countering and parrying each other's moves. Unbeknownst to Cell, he was grinning by this time. The same expression was reflected on Aisu's face.

"Wow," said Goten, leaning against the wall near the doorway to the arena. "They're really enjoying this."

Trunks nodded.

"I bet they _are_ together," scoffed Trunks with a cheeky grin.

Goten's face twisted into a similar expression.

"Yeah, but doesn't that mean Aisu's cheating?" asked Goten, laughing slightly.

"Oh yeah," said Trunks. "She has a boyfriend, doesn't she?"

"Yeah, that dude that never talked and changes his hair more times than you've gotten us into trouble," retorted Goten, grinning at Trunks.

Trunks pouted.

"Hey, I never got us into _that_ much trouble."

Goten scoffed, yet chuckled.

"Sure Trunks-kun, sure."

A loud yell in the arena before them turned both their attention to the fight. They were surprised to see that Cell and Aisu were now closer to them. Weren't they on the other side? As they looked around, they were also surprised to find a lot of the church damaged from their fight. One pillar was especially unsteady.

"Woah!" came Pan's voice.

The two best friends looked at the little girl, then at the direction she was just watching. There, they found the two. It seemed Cell had somehow cornered Aisu once again: this time she was stuck between the wall corner, a pillar and him. Cell dealt a blow to Aisu's head. Aisu ducked, grabbed the pillar and the wall on both sides of her, and kicked Cell. Cell went tumbling backwards, however, landed on his feet and charged towards her. He stopped short as he noticed that the girl was gone.

"Up here!" came the girl's voice.

_She's flying! Impossible!_ thought Cell as his head snapped up.

However, he found that she had used the walls as her leverage to climb up. Now, she used her legs to remain standing as she looked down at him with crossed arms. Cell could not help but smirk. For a human, she was doing okay.

How could he think that?

What was he saying?

Shaking his head slightly from these thoughts, he took action, his body moving before his brain could interpret what it was doing. Running to the wall in which her right leg was position, he planted his left leg on it and pushed off, jumping onto a nearby column. From the column he jumped back to the wall and continued doing this action until he reached the top. As he did, he planted his foot on the front face of the column and lunged towards Aisu. Aisu quickly grabbed the pillar and the wall supporting her and planted her feet on the wall behind her, lunging towards Cell. As they did so, both let out a loud cry. As they met, it was Aisu who managed to deal a blow to Cell, which caused him to land on the ground, skidding until he collided into the pews, which halted his movement. Aisu, meanwhile, landed onto the other side, clutching onto the pillar. Her expression reflected surprise at having just done that.

Her heart was beating extremely fast.

She looked around; noticing that the pillar she stood on seemed shaky. An idea struck her then, however, she was not sure if her weight was heavy enough.

"Here goes nothing," she mumbled, pushing hard on the pillar, yet still trying to clutch onto it. She felt the rock column move under her. Grinning, she pushed harder and harder still. The column moved, slowly at first, swaying precariously on the last remnants of support it had. Gritting her teeth, she could feel the column sway ever faster. As it leaned at an inclination, Aisu gripped the sides and kicked with her legs. There was a rush of wind and a flutter of butterflies in her stomach as the pillar plummeted towards the ground below. Aisu laughed, her arms going up. A deafening roar filled the empty space of the church as the post collided with the ground and dust billowed upwards, going in all direction. Aisu then jumped off, dusted herself off, and walked towards the fallen Cell, who groaned as he sat up, gripping his head.

"Nine," she said, grinning at him. "Five life, four private!" She said, crouching low and placing her index finger on his nose.

He shook his head and got up, taking out pieces of broken wood from his hair and clothes. She giggled, standing back. Cell then turned to face her, his eyes reflecting surprise at the spectacle behind him. The pillar lay on the floor of the cathedral, blocked the way between the flowerbed and them. Aisu's grin turned sheepish.

"I… didn't know how to get down…"

A sweat drop slowly ran down his head, yet he refrained from showing any emotion. Once again, he assumed his stance. She cleared her throat, assuming her stance likewise. However, now, she was smiling, as if she could not get the look of bemusement off her face. With that look, she charged towards him.

"Hmph," said Cell, kicking up a piece of wood and, spinning around, punting it towards her.

Aisu stopped short just in time to swat away the flying debris, however, Cell came charging in. Aisu gasped, unable to defend. For a split second, both their faces were so close; their noses were almost touching. Then, Aisu cried out in pain as Cell sent her tumbling, head-over-heels, towards the fallen pillar. She collided into it with a bang, dust and dirt spraying in the air.

Aisu groaned, grabbing onto the pillar for support and standing up. She wiped a sweat from her cheek as she looked at Cell, amused.

"You repeated the same thing I did, you cheeky thing," she said, chuckling.

Cell smirked, however, kept his guard up. It was then that Aisu began once again. Cell tensed, crouching low in defence. He was surprised however, when Aisu flipped at the last moment, landing on his shoulders. In this position, Aisu then bent backwards, planting both hands on the floor and threw Cell. Cell went flying backwards, however, he managed to stop himself from hitting the floor by planting his left hand on the ground and pushing off it. However, instead of landing on the ground, Cell's feet hit the wall and he rebounded back towards Aisu. Aisu raised her arms, ready to deter the attack. As Cell came close, he outstretched one arm and, in a move seen commonly in wrestling, wrapped it around Aisu's neck. Aisu went sprawling backwards, being slammed into, and somehow, through the fallen pillar. A scream of pain emitted from her throat as this happened, followed by a loud crash as the weakened rock collapsed beneath her. Dust, smoke and debris flew up from the previous bout and a silence then fell over the area. Then, a sharp beep broke this silence.

**Strike Score Fighter 1#: 3700**

**Strike Score Fighter 2#: 3200**

A roar went up in the audience as the Strike Scores were presented on-screen. Both scores were so very close, yet none were close to a Strike Score of 12 500. The announcer smiled at the reaction. It seemed this new invention was a big hit, and even he was getting excited at the fight.

Meanwhile, Trunks, Goten and Pan let out sounds of excitement at the score presented to them.

"Ohhh, Seru's winning," said Goten.

"Un, wonder if Ai-chan's gonna get any better?" asked Trunks.

"That's if any of them get up," retorted Pan, looking at the hologram before them.

Within the cathedral, most of the smoke settled, only remnants just settling down onto the ground or floating just suspended above it. Due to the thick cloud of smoke, the two were not visible, even from the other side of the audience who had a clear view of the flower patch. From the smoke came a gloved hand, slowly gripping the fallen column. The crowd grew rowdy at this sign of life, murmuring and muttering audible amongst the audience. Soon, Aisu's head emerged from the smoke, her expression twisted into a cringe.

"I'm okay. Nothing's broken…" came her strained voice as she stood. Then, adding in a mumble. "… except for my spine, and my nose… and my ears…"

Next, came another hand: that of Cell. He was a little ways from Aisu, closer to the section of the pillar that broke. He realised, as he looked down, that the attack had done a number on his shirt. He growled, taking it off and throwing it on the ground. A cheer went up among the women in the crowd as he stood up.

Aisu stood up also, rubbing the back of her neck. She then stretched her arms out and assumed her stance. Cell stared sceptically.

"Hmph, here I thought you couldn't fight anymore."

Aisu gave a wry grin.

"Yeah, but I'll try my best," she said, her voice stained with the strain of pain.

Cell shrugged, assuming his stance also.

"Your loss," he said shortly.

Aisu gave a smile and tightened her fists, ready to fight once again. However, before the thought-to-be final bout could begin, there was a creaking from behind Aisu. Slowly, she turned around to see where the sound originated, as well as Cell, his mind on the same wavelength as hers. However, before either realised what was happening, the pillar behind Aisu creaked slowly, the last of its foundation weakening from their previous battles. Soon, it accelerated downward at an exponential rate, heading towards an unmoving Aisu as she stared in horror and shock. Before Cell could interpret what his body was doing, he had lunged forward, pushing Aisu out of the way and sending her sprawling into the garden. As the pillar hit the stone cathedral floor, there was a crash and a billow of dust and wind.

**Strike Score Fighter 1#: Offline**

Aisu groaned, clutching her head and looked at where she had previously been standing. There lay the pillar, cracked and broken, lying stock on the ground very close to the one Aisu had managed to knock down. Her eyes then went wide as she remembered the deed Cell had committed: he had saved her life, yet again.

"Seru-san!" she yelled, getting up and running towards the pillar. As she neared it, she gasped, seeing Cell on the ground, his bottom half crushed by the pillar. In a panic, she got to her knees, grabbed the pillar in her hands and tried with all her might to push it off him. "Come on!" she yelled, strain apparent in her voice. As she tried and tried and tried, she sat back on her knees, looking devastated. She then looked at her hands, and the wristwatch on her wrist. Grabbing the latch on the watch, she ripped it off.

**Strike Score Fighter 2#: Offline**

Meanwhile, the crowd had gasped in unison at the sight of the pillar coming down. They were even more surprised at the brave act of the young man as he had pushed the girl out of the way. And furthermore, there was even more murmurs at the Strike Scores. Most of the crowd had stood, wondering what had happened to the young man. When seeing the girl running towards the pillar, the audience became rowdy.

Was the young man injured?

Was Capsule Corporation going too far?

"Do not worry ladies and gentlemen," came the commentator. "We assure you, the young man remains unharmed!"

_At least I hope…_ thought he, thinking of the repercussions if he was indeed wrong.

In the meantime, Cell awoke, feeling groggy. He could hear that girl next to him, saying things like 'come on' and 'this isn't happening'. What was happening anyway? Through the haze he could see the girl clutching onto a pillar, trying to lift it. It was quite a pathetic sight to see. He then realised why she was trying to lift it… he was under it.

_How in all Hell's minions did I get caught up in this?_ he thought, chin resting on his hand as he stared at the feeble attempts of the girl.

He coughed, catching her attention as she suddenly twirled to face him. The expression on her face looked strange to him. He had never seen that expression on anyone ever. What was it?

"Oh my God!" she yelled. "Seru-san, you're… you're okay!"

"Last I checked," he said, his tone flat and monotonous as usual.

Slowly, Aisu's expression changed and soon, she had both hands at the back of her head, laughing nervously with eyes closed. Cell rolled his eyes at her likeness to the Sons. He then realised something.

"Nine," he stated dully, staring apathetically at Aisu.

Aisu stared at him with an innocent disposition, her hands in her hair as if she had been fixing it up.

"Nine?" she asked.

"Nine facts: four about your life, five about your private life."

Aisu looked mystified for a few moment, as if the notion had slipped her mind, then she smiled.

"Hai," she answered, smiling down at him as he still lay under the pillar.

Soon, the announcer's voice could be heard overhead.

"Thankyou fighters! It was truly an enlightening match! Due to technical difficulties, the winner cannot be decided in this match, and therefore, it is a draw! Please return to the airship waiting for you outside!"

With that, there was a whirring, buzzing and whizzing sound as the hologram evaporated piece-by-piece, turning into pixels and vanishing. Cell stood up, rubbing the back of his neck.

_Hmph, draw… what a waste of my time… _thought he, stretching his limbs.

He then felt Aisu grab his arm and yank him forward.

"Let's go!" she yelled, running and dragging him behind.

He stared on, still mystified at the spontaneity of this girl.


	9. HIS SIDE: I hate my life

**Redemption's Side**

**Disclaimer: **Dragonball Z and all its characters © Akira Toriyama, BIRD STUDIO/SHUEISHA, TOEI Animation. Licensed by FUNimation Production, Ltd. All Rights Reserved

**Disclaimer 2: **All fictional character © Eileen Ayling Setiawan (author) and any aliases she assumes (H-san, Hina-chan, etc…)

**Author's Note:** This takes place _after_ the first part of Masshiro na Yuki: Pure White Snow, my fanfiction about Kinoko, the female Saiya-jin. It's a filler of sorts.

**Author's Note 2: **This was inspired by vege-chan from deviantArt. Go visit her!!

* * *

**HIS SIDE**

**Chapter Eight: I Hate My Life…**

**  
**

* * *

"**His Side":** This is the _true_ beginning of Cell/Seru's story. We will begin with "his side" of the Redemption. "His side" is possibly going to be the longest (duh! Main character!). Let us traverse into Cell's redemption!

* * *

The airship landed in the middle of the ring, setting its two passengers down onto the ground, then once again leaving to wherever it had come.

"Welcome back!" said the announcer into his microphone. He waved the two over. "Come here! Come here!" Aisu walked over, dragging an annoyed Cell behind her.

"You two were wonderful!" said the announcer. The crowd agreed with a load roar. Aisu giggled, waving just to see what the crowd would do. It managed to get louder, if that was possible. Behind her, Cell scowled. It was too noisy, much too much noise. 

"Now, as you probably heard, your battle has come as a tie!" said the announcer, grinning at the both of them. "Do you have anything to say about this?"

The announcer pushed the microphone to Cell, who looked away. Aisu chuckled.

"What Seru-san is trying to say, is he'd like a rematch one of these days. Ne, Seru-san?"

Cell looked incredulously at Aisu, who smiled back at him with a challenging, but non-concerting, smile. Cell sighed inwardly. He had to admit this girl was daring, if not foolish and annoying. The announcer interrupted his thought processes.

"As winners of this year's Tenkaichi mock rounds, we would like to award you something to show our appreciation of your time here."

Two monks emerged from the entrance into the arena, each holding glass cases in their hands. Through the glass, Cell could make out an object of some sort, a pendant? It was not until the two monks had reached the trio that Cell realised what it was. Just as he had assumed: a pendant. A medallion, with a fist emblazoned on the front and arched words reading "28th Tenkaichi Budoukai" was handed to both of them. Aisu thanked the monk who handed her the prize, whilst Cell merely grabbed it half-heartedly.

A pendant? All that, for a useless, metallic spheroid?

"Furthermore, we would like to give our thanks to the two winners of the Tenkaichi Budoukai mock rounds. It was an honour watching you fight!"

The crowd cheered and applauded for the two fighters, a scream going around. Cell then noticed Goten, Trunks and Pan heading towards Aisu. It was his turn to leave.

Turning on his heels, Cell made a quick departure. It was lucky for him the four were too preoccupied congratulating and thanking to notice his leave. His head was pounding for some strange reason. And he was beginning to feel the wear on his body. He scoffed under his breath. The human body was weak, no matter what any scientific textbook said.

As he entered into the grounds outside the stadium, he could still hear the crowds ringing in his ears. He gave a quick sigh, heading towards the docks. Maybe he could sneak onto another ferry.

As he continued on his way, hands stuffed in his pockets, looking sullen, the familiar voice of Jaena interrupted his musings. He gritted his teeth, turning to the ogress. She had managed to disappear during Cell's time in the tournament, and Cell believed that she had left him for good when she did not bother to comment on his final fight. It seemed he was wrong.

"I thought I got rid of you for good," he responded to her greeting.

Jaena flared up, a red glow engulfing her in anger, which died almost as instantly.

"I will ignore your boorish comment, because unlike _you_ who was getting beaten up (by a girl, I might add), _I_ found you a job, a place to stay, and a school to go to."

Cell went silent, registering her words. Only three words could sum up his thoughts and disbelief.

"What the Hell?" he stated bluntly, giving a blank stare to the ogress floating just metres from his shoulder.

She nodded, an almost mischievous grin plastered on her tiny visage.

"Once you get to the mainland, I'll show you," she said curtly, turning around and vanishing.

Cell opened his mouth to say something, but was stopped as he heard the crowd coming in from behind.

_Ah shit_, he thought. He made a quick retreat to the docks. He did not want any of their congratulatory remarks. It only made him feel more… human.

* * *

Once Cell reached the docks, he looked at the man standing guard at the entryway. The ticket man from before, or at least, the man that _looked like_ the ticket man from before. As Cell approached, he could see the man's expression change from bleak earnest to delightful interest.

"Ah, if it isn't the man from the mock rounds! Seru, I believe?" questioned the man, looking at Cell with a mixture of awe and interest.

Cell made a quick sound of acknowledgement, peering around.

"Well, sir, would you like to board the ferry?"

Cell's eyebrows rose. This man was _letting_ him on?

"Sure," said Cell hesitantly, still suspicious.

"Ticket?"

Cell sighed, louder than he wanted to.

"Oh, you don't have a ticket?"

Cell remained quiet, looking to the mainland.

"It's okay sir," said the man, leaning in, a little _too_ in for Cell's sake, and whispering. "I'll let you go _this_ time."

_This idiot doesn't even remember me…_ thought Cell, shrugging and walking onboard as the ticket man moved out of the way for his passage. _Whatever, as long as I get off this godforsaken island…_

Like before, Cell stood at the bow end, leaning over the railings, his back turned to where the passengers boarded. He hoped no one would notice who he was.

* * *

As he reached shore, he glared back at the crowd, who waved him off the ferry. He was glad to be away from that place. All the harassing and the grabbing, their voices ringing in his head. The ferry ride was a long one, made equally longer with their jabbering. As he traversed the path into the city, Jaena appeared by his head, causing greater irritation to the already irritated young Cell.

"What?" he snapped towards her, causing a passer-by to stare strangely. Before the passer-by could register who Cell was, he had turned, pacing away, still looking irritated.

"I merely want to inform you of your residence on this planet," said Jaena matter-of-factly, still floating around Cell's shoulder as he strode forward, looking very secretarial.

Cell gave an irritated sigh. "Fine, hurry it up," he snapped, his head looking towards the floor, but his eyes darting up towards her.

She gave a sheepish smile. "It's at Satan City," she said shortly, expecting Cell to know what she had just said.

He stared blankly. "So?" he asked bluntly.

"So? Satan City is miles away from here, near Son Goku's house," she explained. She motioned to the vast expanse of city. "We're in the Western Capital."

Cell's stare remained blank until it finally registered. He had been fed all of Earth's locations, as well as the powers bestowed upon him, during his incubation. The Western Capital was located northwest of Papaya Island where the Tenkaichi Budoukai was held each year. It was a pretty long journey, which allowed Cell to realise why the ferry trips seemed so dauntingly long. He then realised…

"How am I supposed to get to this friggen' city if I can't even fly?! That's practically on the other side of the world!" he yelled. Many people saw a young man yelling at air about flying: a strange sight indeed.

* * *

Several hours, and more irritation on Cell's part, later, Cell was on an airship thanks to some tweaking and adoration by growing fans to Cell's stunts on the big screen as he fought at the Tenkaichi mock rounds. Jaena had actually been thankful that Cell had disobeyed her ("But if you do it often, it will go against your final evaluation," added Jaena matter-of-factly), but was more than happy to watch her charge suffer.

Right now, they flew aboard a cargo ship towards Satan City. He sat wedged between a pile of boxes marked "Fragile" and a caged dog, who, when not barking, would be trying to lick and bite Cell through the bars.

He growled, wanting to rip the tongue out of the mutt's throat. Except with Jaena keeping constant watch, and having already been bitten twice by the dog, Cell knew that was an impossible dream. Instead, he amused himself by thinking of twisted ways to get out of this horrendous nightmare.

When they finally reached ground, Cell was happy to get away from the cargo bay. He had dog drool over the right side of his face and on the collar of his shirt. He could feel it soaking through.

_Disgusting,_ he thought, thinking of the similarities between that dog and Goku at feeding time. He let his mouth give way to an amused smirk.

"Well, here we are!" motioned Jaena to the expanse of city ahead. "Well, let's get going, huh? I'll give you directions, just follow what I say." Jaena perched on Cell's shoulder, then, as loud as she could in his right ear, she yelled: "STRAIGHT!"

Cell cringed at the pain in his ear. Growling, he swiped her away, causing her to go flying off and spiralling into the distance. Still angry, he strode forward as the cargo men waved their mock Budoukai champion goodbye.

* * *

When Cell arrived at his lodging, he looked upon the building with disgust. In front of him was a well-worn building, with shutters hanging off the last remnants of its rusty hinges, a front door that remained slightly ajar from years of neglect, and dirt and abrasions scuffing the once brick-laden building. Rubbish cans lay to the side, flies buzzing around as they fed on the decaying food and other such refuse. Cell looked into the alleyway, the smell of pungent urine mixed with trash hitting his senses. He scoffed in disgust, looking to the building once more.

"Welcome home!" exclaimed Jaena's voice.

"You're _not_ serious, are you?" asked Cell, shooting Jaena a withering look.

"I don't see what's so wrong with it. You're only going to be here until you complete 210 good deeds," stated Jaena.

Cell grit his teeth, highly annoyed. If it were not for the fact that a bum was staring at him from the alleyway, he would have probably retaliated verbally. Instead, he whacked Jaena away and stalked into the building.

_I hate my life…_ he thought, grabbing hold of the handle of the door and pulling. The door did not budge. Cell then pushed, still nothing. He then jangled the doorknob. Nothing.

All his attempts led to nothing.

_Why won't this fuckin' thing -?_ he thought, violently shaking the door.

"Hey man," came the drunkard's voice. Cell turned, seeing the homeless man walking towards him. "You gotta push and jerk, man."

"What?" snapped Cell.

"Like this," the drunkard grabbed the door handle, pushing it in and than jerking the handle up. The door slid open with ease, groaning in the drunkard's wake.

The drunkard gave Cell a yellow-toothed, wide grin, Cell smelling the alcohol on his breath. Cell swallowed back the urge to retch, a strained smile appearing on his face to force back the vomit-reaction. Cell then walked inside, leaving behind the drunkard who stared after him.

* * *

Reaching the appointed floor that Jaena had prearranged for him during her time as a "human" ("Oh, it was the best thing!" she had gushed), Cell trudged towards the door. He looked upon the room number, than turned to look at Jaena.

Jaena shrugged.

"It was the only one left," she said nonchalantly, floating off Cell's shoulder and towards the door. She stood on the doorhandle. "Well?" she asked, tapping her high-heeled shoe on the soiled bronze knob.

Cell growled, jamming the key into the handle violently and turning it as forcefully as he could. A click resounded as Cell unlocked the door. Taking out the key, the door swung open with a creaking of hinges and Jaena's loud "woah" as Cell forcefully pushed the door open.

"Does everything creak in this building?" muttered Cell, looking around the room newly appointed to him. His brow cocked at the sight.

When Jaena said a "one room apartment", she literally meant a "one room apartment". The bathroom, bedroom, kitchen and lounge room were all in one room. The bathroom was separated by the rest of the apartment via a single rotting wooden partition.

The smell was not very pleasant too. Cell's human nose wrinkled in disgust as he turned his head away. Meanwhile, Jaena reappeared before his eyes, causing Cell to look towards her cross-eyed.

"You know, I'm really getting sick of _you_ pushing. Me. AROUND!!" she yelled, her hair now a flaming red colour.

Cell scoffed, walking into the room. The smell was better than hearing her rant, although half of him knew there was no easy way of getting away from Jaena. She could disappear and reappear wherever she wanted. As Cell walked inside, Jaena followed after him.

"DON'T YOU RUN AWAY FROM M –" the last of her yell was cut off as Cell slammed the door in her tiny face. Jaena went flying back several feet. At the same time, the number of Cell's apartment was revealed. It read 66, but the second six promptly fell loose, twisting on its focal point to form a nine.

* * *

Cell looked around, seeing a dingy bed in what was _supposed_ to be the bedroom. In another corner were a stove and a pathetic excuse of a kitchen sink that looked more like a bathroom sink. He then realised as he saw the showerhead above, that the kitchen sink was actually a bathroom sink. He turned his head, seeing a red couch… or at least he thought it was red.

_Could be blood… wouldn't be surprised,_ he mused, crossing his arms.

He walked to the window situated near the bed and looked out.

_Talk about getting kicked when you're down…_ he thought again, seeing the more "prosperous" side of town from where he stood. The mayor's office was visible, as well as a number of different mansions. What made things even more grating was the sounds he could hear far below him in the city street slums. Police sirens seemed to sound every few minutes or so, cats screeched in the alleyways, followed by loud clashes as if someone had knocked over a trashcan. He looked down, seeing the polluted streets of Satan City among the faintly glowing street lights and wondering why he even_ wanted_ to take over this dump…

"Because you're an evil bug! Yes you are! Yes you are!" came Jaena's voice in his ear, talking in a baby-like tone.

He figured she possibly _meant_ to do that. Cell swiped her away with a wave of the hand, sending her flying into an unknown location, somewhere between the kitchen and the lounge room. He then looked to his bed.

"I should've destroyed the place when I had a chance," he mumbled, walking towards it and sitting down. The bed creaked and lowered precariously under his weight. Cell looked at it warily.

"Don't worry bout it!" reassured Jaena, suddenly appearing on the bed head. "It's perfectly safe."

Cell looked at her suspiciously. Shouldn't she be… angrier? Swinging his legs onto the bed, Cell sat down, most of his body weight supported on his two scrawny human arms. He then carefully lowered himself down, the bed sagging even more. Taking his chances, he relaxed, his entire body weight supported by the bed. It sagged even more, but remained in an upright position.

"See?" said Jaena, twisting and disappearing.

Cell sighed, moving his knees up to his chest and placing his elbows on his knees, head leaning between the two. He stayed in that position, wondering why this had to happen now? He was actually growing content in his position in Hell, despite those stupid mutants and Changelings. Frieza? Was he a man or a woman? By the looks of it, Frieza seemed neither. Were all Changelings like that? Sitting upright, he looked at the ceiling, face twisting in disgust at a brown spot, where it looked as if water had seeped through the plaster and wall paper… er… ceiling paper. Cell twisted around, grabbing the pathetic excuse of a pillow and lifting it. He tried not to yell, the human part of him accelerating in heartbeat as something small, brown and crawly skittered away from its hiding spot under the pillow.

He looked at the pillow, turning it over several times to make sure it was not contaminated. He then thought better of it and positioned it against the wall, using it as a backrest. Leaning on it, he propped his legs out, one crossed over the other, his head leaning back on the relatively clean wall. In this position he laid there, eyes closed and arms crossed, relatively comfortable until…

BADUMP

Cell opened his eyes, wondering what that was. It sounded as if something huge had just collided into the wall.

BADUMP

It came again, causing Cell to sit up and look to the wall behind him. The sound was coming from the other room.

BADUMP. BADUMP

BADUMP

Two short bursts and another slow one? What the Hell was going on here?

BADUMP. BADUMP. BADUMP. BADUMP.

The pace was getting more rhythmic. Now if only Cell knew what was going on. The sound was irritating him. He had had a _long_ day and the idiot next door was ruining a relatively good night's sleep. On his knees, Cell placed both palms on the wall, pressing his ear to the wall.

Among the thumps he could hear a voice, continually screaming, over and over. His face twisted into one of confusion.

What the Hell was going on in there?

Did that man torture people?

Pressing his ear to the wall again, his hypothesis was proven incorrect as he heard the voice yelling words analogous to 'yes' and 'Oh my God'. Cell growled in frustration, tempted to hit the wall yet knowing that would lead to it possibly crumbling beneath his fist. He sat down, cross-legged and cross-armed on his bed, the annoying bumping sound continuing on and on. As it started to slow, Cell was just about to get back in his position against the wall when…

DRIP

Cell stopped, looking up.

DRIP

Water fell from the brown stain above, falling onto his forehead, the liquid seeping down his face. Cell reeled backwards, wiping it from his face. He looked at it his hands, then looked back up at the ceiling. He saw as the drops come raining steadily down onto his bed, turning the already murky white covers a brown.

It then accelerated with a sound of groaning pipes.

DRIP

DRIP

DRIP

DRIP

DRIP

DRIP

DRIP

Cell grabbed his pillow, moving it to the end of the bed and leaning it against the wall there. He watched as the brown stain started to move as the liquid seeped through the thin covers.

_You have _got_ to be kidding me,_ he thought, staring intensely at the covers. The thumping once again resounded, causing Cell to look towards the wall with a look of total disbelief on his face.

With a scream of frustration, Cell fisted the plaster wall, yelling at whoever was in there to stop. This only managed to make the plaster in the brown stain above to become loose, followed by…

CRASH

Plaster and a heap of brown liquid came raining down on Cell's bed, a steady stream of brown flowing out of the pipes. The smell he had smelt earlier intensified to an all-time reek. Cell scoffed in disgust, jumping off the bed and bringing his pillow with him. He watched as his bed was consumed with the brown stuff.

"I did say the bed was okay… but your neighbours are more than willing to change that," came Jaena's voice in his ear. Just as he was about to swat her away, she disappeared with a vanishing cackle. She was enjoying his torture.

Growling, he went to look out his windows, seeing the expanse of city lights and rolling buildings before him. With a deep breath, he yelled at the top of his lungs:

"SOMEBODY KILL ME NOW!!"

With that yell, everything seemed to go quiet, as if a calm had come over the entire city. A calm before the storm.

Before Cell knew it, a rotten piece of fruit had hit him square in the face, followed by a man telling him to shut up. Several other pieces of fruits and vegetables were thrown at him, with others also yelling at the young teenager to shut up. Some even threw bottles at him, causing Cell to back away from the window as glass shattered around it, many of those throwing bottles too drunk to aim.

Cell growled, clutching his pillow to his chest as he looked out the window. His apartment smelled, his bed was completely dirty and the neighbours were all idiots. Sitting on the floor, he lay spread-eagled, looking at the ceiling.

"Why couldn't that last bottle've been a gun?" he asked to nobody in particular.

Jaena, as his "conscience", answered the question for him.

"Don't be silly," she said, floating above his head, looking down at him in pink pyjamas. "Guns can't kill when they're thrown."

Cell growled, turning so that he wasn't facing her. Looking at the bottom of the bed, he could see the dust bunnies that had built up over time, as well as other unmentionable things. Closing his eyes, he could think of only _one_ thing on his mind:

"I hate my life…" he mumbled, sleep overcoming all of his senses.


	10. HIS SIDE: Welcome to Orange Star High

**Redemption's Side**

**Disclaimer: **Dragonball Z and all its characters © Akira Toriyama, BIRD STUDIO/SHUEISHA, TOEI Animation. Licensed by FUNimation Production, Ltd. All Rights Reserved

**Disclaimer 2: **All fictional character © Eileen Ayling Setiawan (author) and any aliases she assumes (H-san, Hina-chan, etc…)

**Author's Note:** This takes place _after_ the first part of Masshiro na Yuki: Pure White Snow, my fanfiction about Kinoko, the female Saiya-jin. It's a filler of sorts.

**Author's Note 2: **This was inspired by vege-chan from deviantArt. Go visit her!!

* * *

**HIS SIDE**

**Chapter Nine: Welcome to Orange Star High!**

* * *

**Orange Star High School: ** The high school found in Satan City where Gohan attended during his teenage years. It has four levels, its own baseball field, and rooftop access as well as the normal facilities of a High School. Each student is allocated their own locker, where they can drop or pick up any books or items stored. During the early years of Orange Star High, students were allowed to wear whatever they pleased, much like American high schools. However, presently, students are now under a dress code, where there are winter and summer uniforms for boys and girls. The P.E. uniform consists of white T-shirts with blue shorts or skirts (depending on your gender). It also comes with an optional hat that bears the Orange Star High insignia, an orange star with a large black H within it, surrounded by a green circle visible through the barbs of the star and bordered by a white circle. This insignia is also found on the school uniform: on the breast pocket of the black male blazers, the lower left hem of the female summer and winter skirts, and the collars of the P.E. uniforms.

* * *

Cell awoke the next morning, sunlight shining over his entire body. As he opened his eyes, he found himself face-to-face with a furry face, pink nose wriggling, paws posed in front of its hairy body. Cell shot up, seeing the rat scurry away and into a crevice somewhere in the kitchen. He sighed, looking around the room. The bed still lay engulfed in a brown mess of what Cell believed to be faeces, dirty water, and urine. The thumping had stopped from the neighbour. He looked at his pillow, at least that had lasted the night. It was relatively comfortable. Stretching, Cell felt parts of his body ache in places he did not believe _could_ ache. He sighed again, standing up and walked to the kitchen, scratching his dark green hair.

"You should have a shower before you venture out y'know," came a voice behind him.

"Why should I listen to you, you crabby –" Cell stopped, gob smacked as he turned to see a woman behind him, her hair a dark ebony colour. She wore a grey suit, her hair tied neatly in a bun at the back.

"Who the Hell are –"

"It's me Jaena!" yelled the woman, irritated. "Isn't it obvious?"

"Pft, no," answered Cell, crossing his arms.

Jaena sighed irritatingly. "Hurry up and shower. I only have a two-hour-limit in this form!" she growled, stalking over to him.

"When were you the boss of me?" he grumbled, turning to walk away.

She growled, more irritated, and grabbed the collar of Cell's shirt, dragging him to the shower. Despite Cell's protests, it seemed Jaena was stronger than she seemed. In the bathroom, she tore off his clothes, Cell screaming profanity. She then shoved him into the shower, turning the valve whilst Cell yelled:

"Hey, watch it you –" Cell's sentence was once again interrupted as cold water washed over his entire body, Cell yelling, his arms instinctively going over his body. He had never felt this sensation before, a tingle going up and down his spine, his breath caught in his throat and prickles around his body as his hair seemed to stand on end.

"HA!" yelled Jaena, jabbing Cell with a pen that had appeared out of nowhere. "I'll show you to talk back to me! That's for all the swatting too!"

Cell stood in the shower, shivering and covering his body from the water.

"Now, shower, or should I do it for you?" asked Jaena, staring at Cell with an amused expression on her face.

Cell growled, grabbing the shower curtain and closing it around his naked form. Jaena laughed and walked towards the kitchen.

In the shower, Cell leaned on the wall, looking at the valves. One was marked red, the other blue. Grabbing the red one, he turned it slightly, feeling the water go warmer on his back. He sighed, rubbing a hand through his green hair. For a while, the water washed over Cell as he stood there, feeling the sensation of the water on his back washing over his body. He then looked to the showerhead, the water falling on his chest and running down, his arms now at his side, his eyes closed.

"Oh Ceeeelll!" said Jaena's voice in a singsong voice, opening the curtain.

"What?" snapped Cell.

Jaena shoved a bar of soap and bottle labelled "Duty free Shampoo" in his arms, giggled as she looked down, and then closed the door. Cell looked at the soap and shampoo, and then moved his arms out of the way to see what she was laughing at. His face twisted into one of confusion.

* * *

When Cell opened the shower curtain, he found himself face-to-face with Jaena who carried white towels in her arms. For some time, Cell stood naked, staring at Jaena, who merely smiled eerily at him.

Cell started growing suspicious, and just as he opened his mouth, Jaena pounced, wrapping Cell in the towels and dragging him away. As soon as he had gotten his bearings, Jaena was drying his hair, rubbing the towels in ferociously as Cell yelled, arms flailing. Jaena then sighed, stepping back and looking at her masterpiece, a squeaky clean, fresh smelling Cell, his green hair fluffing up. He growled, shaking his head, causing his hair to settle down.

Jaena laughed.

"Okay!" she began. "Get changed!!" She gave Cell a bundle of black clothes, lines with black.

"What?" snapped Cell, looking at the bundle.

"Clothes! You know, so you don't walk around naked?"

"I know what clothes are!" he snapped. "Why are they different?" he continued.

"Well, very simple reasons: number one, your other clothes are filthy with sweat from yesterday. Number two, you can't wear the same thing over and over, it's unsanitary. And number three, you need to wear a uniform to where you're going."

"A uniform?" asked Cell, looking incredulous.

"Yes, why?"

"Where _am_ I going?" he asked, dipping low and looking at Jaena from below.

"School. You know, Orange Star High School. You are eighteen…"

"WHAT!?" yelled Cell, standing up and knocking Jaena and the clothes off balance.

As Jaena regained her balance, she sighed irritatingly. "I thought you knew," she said exasperatedly.

"How should I know? I didn't even know you were taking me to this godforsaken place!!" he retaliated.

Jaena went silent, then started nodding slowly, before nodding more rapidly. "You've got a point," she finally said.

Cell yelled in frustration, clutching his head.

"Well," began Jaena. "Yama-sama said that you need to be a human. So, as you're eighteen, you should go to high school. They're just coming back from yesterday's public holiday," she ended matter-of-factly.

Cell sighed, trying not to sock the woman in front of him. With a shaking hand, he put his hand out, head still down so that he did not look at her. She handed him the bundle, chuckled almost evilly, then turned towards the kitchen. When Jaena was gone, Cell lifted his head, staring at the clothes in his hands. Standing, the towel around his nether regions placed there by Jaena fell to the floor as he prepared to get changed.

"Time to eat!" came Jaena's voice as she entered the bedroom. She couldn't help but smile as she saw the young man standing before her, Prussian _gakuran_ on as he fixed his black tie around his collar. He seemed to be looking out at the window, until she noticed he was actually looking at his _reflection_ in the window. She made a mental note to buy a mirror. For some strange reason she felt like a new mother looking at her son venturing out on his own for the first time. Jaena, after all, was a career ogre; she had not time for children.

"Why are you all blubbery?" came Cell's monotonous teenage voice, snapping Jaena back to reality.

"What? Can't I think?" she snapped back.

"You think? I thought only higher life forms could think," teased Cell, smirking.

Jaena growled, roughly grabbing his arm and dragging him to the kitchen, where a plate of burnt toast, eggs and bacon lay on the table.

Cell looked incredulously at the food, and then at Jaena.

"You're not expecting I _eat_ this?" he asked, pointing to it.

Jaena opened her mouth, about to retort to his comment when a beep from her breast pocket sounded. Jaena fished through her pocket, taking out a device that looked like a mobile phone.

"Well, I guess not…" she mumbled.

"Huh?" asked Cell.

"Time to go now," she said, matter-of-factly, dragging him out of the kitchen and to the door. She pointed down.

Cell looked towards the direction of her pointed finger, seeing a pair of sneakers and socks and a green, army-printed "U.S. Military" bag. Grumbling, he snatched the socks up, leaned against the door, and started pulling the socks on. He then slipped the sneakers on, and then crossed his arms, looking annoyed.

"You'll be taking the school bus!" she chirped. "I'll be riding with you," she added as he opened his mouth, interrupting him.

"Whatever," grumbled Cell, opening the door.

Jaena followed after him, closing and locking the door as Cell walked forward to the elevator.

* * *

Cell leaned against the signpost that signalled it was the bus stop. Jaena stood nearby, arms folded neatly in front of her, waiting patiently. Some men ogled at her, causing Jaena to smile smugly.

_What is she, eighty? Thinks she's a teenager or something,_ thought Cell, annoyed that he had to do this.

"Oh Seru," came her voice, addressing him by his alias. Cell glanced sidelong at her. "You'll be taking a test when we get there," she said, her voice dripping with a sweetness that only made others at the bus stop stare at the woman and the teenager.

"Excellent…" he said sardonically, rolling his eyes.

He felt a bump on his left side, causing Cell to turn to look. His eyes befell on a teenager about the same age as him, wearing the same uniform.

"What?" asked Cell bluntly.

"Your mum is hot," he said with a rogue grin.

Cell scoffed. "You're disgusting," he replied. "And she's _not_ my mother!" he added.

"Yes, I'm his matron," came Jaena's voice behind him, causing Cell to yell in surprise. He then watched as she shook hands with the teenager. "Pleased to meet you," she added, smiling amiably.

"Woah, you're one hot matron," replied the teenager.

Jaena laughed behind her hand, looking bashful. "Oh, that's not true," she gushed.

"Nah, it's totally true," replied the teenager. "What's your name anyway?"

"Janet Harvington," she said, smiling at the teenager amiably.

"Ah, that's a very sophisticated name. I'm surprised to find you down in these dumps Ms. Harvington," replied the young teenager, signalling around.

"Oh no, I'm here because of my ward here." She leaned in, lowering her voice and placing her hand over her mouth. "He's a little dense y'know," she whispered.

Cell heard every word, glowering at the ogress. The boy nodded in understanding.

"If you want," he began. "I can show him around the school," he offered. Cell had a feeling he was only saying that to get on "Janet's" good side.

"Oh, that would be lovely," piped Jaena, looking between the two teenagers. "Did you hear that Seru, he'll show you around!"

"Whatever," muttered Cell, digging his hands into his pants as he saw a bus making its way towards their stop.

Onboard were teenagers, throwing things around and yelling. As Cell boarded with Jaena and the other teenager behind chatting animatedly, Cell observed the bus. Students turned to look at the new kid, taking in his green hair, pink eyes, pale skin, black facial markings, U.S. Military schoolbag and expressionless face. However, his dress sense was neat, primmed, every detail of his uniform meticulously placed. They then saw Jaena with the other teenager, Jaena holding onto Cell's schoolbag, almost protectively, although this was more so that Cell did not wander down the bus without her.

A punk kid with a mother-complex.

That was what they believed him to be.

As Cell stood in the aisle, Jaena sat down in the front with the teenager, still talking, or more, the teenager flirting every chance he got. Cell plopped down onto a seat nearby, hearing a defiant 'hey'. He turned, seeing a blonde girl staring at him in disgust.

"I'd rather you not sit here," she said, Valley-girl talk pervading her every word.

Cell gave her a chilling smile, eyes still expressionless.

"Well I'd rather you hanging from the backdoor, each leg fastened to the two backseats, mouth in the exhaust pipe as you inhale all that carbon monoxide, but do you see me doing that to you?" he replied.

She gasped, staring in mild fear at the teenager. He went silent, turning away from her. Internally, he smirked.

* * *

As Cell reached the school, he stared at the four-storey building, seeing the same insignia upon the tall spear-like monument in the front. He sighed then stared back, seeing Jaena walking up with the teenager. As they neared, she bid the teenager farewell. He waved back, and then gesticulated towards Cell, two fingers up in a form of salute.

"See ya 'round Seru," he farewelled, turning and walking inside the building.

Cell stared sidelong at Jaena.

"What?" she asked, innocently shrugging.

"You just _love_ being a fool, don't you?" asked Cell.

"No," she retorted, insulted at the slight. "I was merely talking," she ended, turning her nose up at Cell and walking inside.

"Whatever," muttered Cell, following her inside.

As they walked inside, Cell found his arm clasped in Jaena's arm. She pulled Cell down towards her, so that Cell's head was beside hers. With a smile on her face, she then started talking to Cell:

"You are to stay with me at _all_ times until I turn back to my smaller form. Then you are to _listen_ to me whilst I am in my smaller form. School can be a _scaaaary_ place Cell," she said in a serious tone, despite that smile on her face.

"Yes ma'am," he said, his voice dry and sarcastic.

"Good," answered Jaena. "Now, what they want you to do is an _entrance exam_. It's an exam that tests the abilities of the student and places them in a ranking. In Orange Star High, there are rankings A to D, depending on the intelligence of the student: A is the highest and D is the lowest. Students are also split according to your grade. You're going to be in senior high, third year, so you will be designated the number three."

"Uh-huh," answered Cell, tone flat and monotonous as usual.

"Also," explained Jaena. "Once you're done with your examination, they'll probably want you to "sit in" classes, meaning they'll want you to observe how the classes go. You don't have to learn anything today, just be there as a third person party. The selections of classes you'll be sitting in are English, Japanese, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, and Home Economics. There's also Physical Education, but you won't be playing today."

"Great," answered Cell, sarcasm still apparent voice. "What do you mean by selections?" he asked after some time.

"You'll only be able to take four of the six classes," explained Jaena, shrugging. She then turned to face the front. "Okay, here we are!" cried Jaena, her voice changing from serious and instructive to bright and cheery.

Cell stared at her incredulously, wondering why she was being so weird today. He then looked forward, seeing a glass panel, and within, people going about their daily routine, typing, filing and working on computers. As Jaena and Cell neared the entrance, the door opened automatically, all eyes within the school office looking towards the two.

"May I please see the school principal?" asked Jaena to a secretary with square-framed glasses and hair similar to Jaena's.

The woman looked to her through her glasses, looking oblivious, than she nodded.

"Mrs. Harvington, I presume," she asked.

"It's Miss Harvington," she replied, causing Cell to roll his eyes.

"Ah yes, the principal was waiting. You've made it on time," replied the secretary. She then pushed a button on a black box-like device. "Mr. Hasakawa? Ms Harvington is here."

A voice replied, sounding gruff and, to Cell at least, bewildered. "Ah yes, yes, send 'er in."

"The principal will have you now," said the secretary. "Oh, and please be wary, he hasn't been the same since the incident several years ago."

"What incident?" asked Cell, finally making his presence known.

The secretary looked to him, shocked at the appalling appearance of the teenager: green hair, facial markings, pink eyes… she half expected a lip ring.

"Well, that's really not your concern," replied by the secretary.

"Feh," replied Cell, trudging to the principal's office, followed by a nervously laughing Jaena.

* * *

As Cell and Jaena sat in the Mr. Hasakawa's office, they found the man fidgeting around, looking out the windows, hands clasped behind his back. His brown moustache seemed to twitch at every sound, almost like a rodent or a rabbit with their whiskers. Cell peered at him, the man looking _very_ familiar.

"Ah… Miss… Miss Harvington…" he began, stuttering badly. "Ni – nice to meet you." He gave his hand, it shaking indefinitely.

"You too Mr. Hasakawa." Jaena put her hand out to shake it, but he took it back, almost violently, as if he was scared to touch.

Cell looked on sceptically from where he already sat, leaning back on his chair and watching the strange interaction. Jaena merely laughed nervously.

"May I –"

"Yes, yes… go… sit, please," he answered hurriedly, distracted.

"Well," began Jaena. "My ward would like to take an entrance –"

"Yes!" interrupted the man. "The exam! The exam!" He bent down, pressing the button on a similar box-like device. In the dim light, Cell realised it was the one and only Capsule Corporation that had made the devices. This made him then wonder if that Son-brat and the purple-haired moron were in the school.

"Mrs. Kaien," started the principal. "P – please, escort young Mr. Harvington –"

"Mr. Jinzouningen," interrupted Jaena.

"Ehrm… Mr. Jinzouningen… to the examination room."

"Yes Mr. Hasakawa, right away, the papers are already ready," replied the secretary.

Jaena stood and bowed. "Thankyou very much Mr. Hasakawa," she thanked.

The principal nodded, still distracted. Cell also stood up, following Jaena out, all the while staring at the principal. He seemed _very_ familiar.

* * *

Cell grumbled incoherently under his breath, wondering why he was even _here_. He was in his 40s for Christ sake, a killing machine, now whittled down to taking stupid entrance examinations and listening to a little retarded pixie-like thing. He looked at the clock on the wall. It read 9:34 AM. He was already past half an hour into the exam. He looked at the exam, seeing how simple the equations were. He was already done with the Mathematics component, almost done with the Science component and was now heading towards the English component. He looked down at the last Science question, a sceptical look crossing his face.

"Oil floats in water due to both density gradients and other forces. What are these forces, and why are they so important?"

Cell smirked. _Easy,_ he thought. Putting pen to paper, he wrote:

"Lipids, especially oils, are amphipathic. This means they have both a hydrophobic ("water-hating") and hydrophilic ("water-loving") region. When lipids are dropped in water, the hydrophobic effect causes an increase in entropy, or disorder, and therefore, the water molecules are dispersed, causing the water-oil interaction to then be "ordered". This is the major driving force in oil floating in water, and also the major driving force in the folding of globular proteins."

Cell sighed, flipping the page and looking at the English question. The first questions dealt with reading and responding with an understanding of what you read, including the use of "techniques", whatever that meant. Halfway through question 1, part two, Jaena had appeared out of nowhere, telling him that "techniques" was another way of saying components in English such as metaphors, similes, and hyperboles. Cell looked to her sidelong, then sighed, and proceeded in adding these "techniques" to his work.

_Why do I even care?_ He thought, going through the texts and underlining any technique that came his way. He then rewrote the first question, parts one and two and continued on, keeping to whatever Jaena had said.

When he reached the final question, it asked him for a "long response", which Cell believed meant an essay. He groaned under his breath as he read it, sceptical at what the question was asking him:

"Through the changing years, society and its moral values have been changing more and more as the community grows more and more hostile. Many still believe in community values among small communities, but many others deem the world to be a "dog-eat-dog" world. Explain your views on the changing moralities of the time."

_You've _got_ to be kidding me…_ thought Cell, scratching his head with the eraser part of the pencil.

He looked out the window, seeing storm clouds gathering, imminent of spring rain. He then looked to the paper, re-reading it. He read the last sentence.

_Explain MY view, eh?_ He asked himself, smirking. This would be fun.

Already on page three of his essay, Cell had written on the moralist attitudes of extremist groups, as well as the immorality and ignorance of society. He was almost finished when his stomach gave a sudden loud, long growl, followed by a pain that threatened to make Cell groan out loud. He clutched his stomach, stopping himself from writing as he bent low.

"Oh crap…" he muttered, his stomach screaming for _something_ yet Cell not being able to heed to its call. He let out a frustrated sigh as he grabbed his pencil, finished off his lengthy and highly opinionated essay, and once again clutched his stomach with both hands.

Looking at the heap of papers, Cell stood up, taking it to the front, where a woman, who Cell believed to be a teacher from appearance alone, sat, writing down notes in a book. She looked up as Cell approached.

"Ah, Mr. Jinzouningen. Are you done?" she asked, smiling at him.

Cell did not reply, merely handing her the papers. She thanked him, then flipped through them before smiling up at him. She was surprised, however, to find him gone, leaving a swinging door in his wake.

"Ah, what's wrong with me?" he growled, staggering down the hallway as he clutched his stomach. He felt very weak all of a sudden.

"You need to eat," snapped Jaena in his ear.

"Eat?"

"Yes, like when you were in your Imperfect form as Cell."

"I _am_ Cell."

"I mean the ugly Cell, with that ugly beak."

Cell growled, doubling over and crouching down as he grabbed his cramped stomach. It pained him to ask this but he needed to: she was the only way the pain would end.

"What… what do I do?" he asked after much hesitation.

Jaena went silent, obviously shocked.

"What do I do?" snapped Cell after a long silence.

"Oh, right, right!" started Jaena. "Uhm… well…" She looked around. "Wait there!" she said suddenly, disappearing.

Cell sighed, closing his eyes as his stomach continued to cramp. Hearing footsteps in front of him, he opened his eyes, seeing a pair of legs. He looked up slowly, coming face-to-very-close-face with a familiar countenance.

"Are… you okay?" she asked.

Cell merely stared, wondering why his face felt suddenly hotter at the proximity of his face and her face. It was then that a hand grabbed him from behind, jerking him up. Cell turned again, seeing Jaena, or more, Janet Harvington.

"There you are!" she yelled, patting him on the back, roughly. "I've been looking for you _every_where!!" She then pulled him into a hug, much to Cell's chagrin. However, he heard a whispered snap in his ear. "Next time, eat breakfast!"

As they pulled away, Jaena was already in action, hand stretched out towards the girl. "Nice to meet you!" she greeted, smiling.

The girl smiled back, grabbing her hand. "You too," she replied.

"Aisu Sakagoshima, I presume," said Jaena, causing Cell's face to fault.

"Oh, you know me?" asked Aisu.

"Of course dear. I watched the mock rounds whilst Seru was fighting. You're an _excellent_ fighter, may I add."

Aisu laughed, flattered but modest. "I'm not that good. Seru-san was much better," she retorted amiably.

"Well, sorry for this. Seru's really hungry. He forgot breakfast. He'd probably forget his head if it wasn't screwed on."

In the background, Cell growled in anger, although half of him was _very_ hungry.

"Okay," laughed Aisu. "But… I didn't catch your name. Are you Seru-san's mother?"

"Oh no dear!" replied Jaena, clutching Cell around the arm. "I'm his matron. He turned eighteen a while ago and I'm just prepping him up to go into high school!"

"Oh, right," she replied, nodding. "Do you know where the cafeteria is?" she added.

"Oh yes, I checked the school before coming. You run along. You have class, don't you?" asked Jaena.

Aisu laughed, rubbing the back of her head. "Yeah true," she answered. She then waved farewell again, and walked down the hallway.

Jaena sighed in relief, dragging Cell down the hallway, the other way.

"Okay, we'll get you something to eat. And then into class you go."

"Class?" asked Cell.

"Yes, first class is Mathematics I believe."

"Then what's happening now?"

"Physical Education," answered Jaena. "You don't have to play, remember?"

"Whatever…" said an exasperated Cell.

* * *

In the cafeteria, Cell played with the food, poking it around.

"Aren't you going to eat?" asked Jaena, already munching on her meal.

"What is this?" he asked.

"Macaroni and cheese," replied Jaena, chewing and swallowing. She then took a sip of her drink. "It's nice," she added.

"I don't –"

Cell's complaint was interrupted as Jaena shoved her fork in his mouth. "Chew " she said viciously.

Cell turned his head away, taking the food with him, then swallowed. The first thing he tasted was the cheese, with a slight taste, which he believed was the pasta.

"Don't do that!" he snapped at her.

She shrugged, digging into her food with her head down. As she looked up, she gave herself a private smirk, seeing Cell eating the food on his plate. A few minutes later, she then saw him scarfing it down, the cafeteria workers staring almost incredulously.

"He's a growing boy," responded Jaena, looking nervous.

The workers nodded, turning to work, as Jaena sighed, staring at Cell eat the food like, and this was the ironic part, a Son.


	11. HIS SIDE: One Day at Orange Star High

**Redemption's Side**

**Disclaimer: **Dragonball Z and all its characters © Akira Toriyama, BIRD STUDIO/SHUEISHA, TOEI Animation. Licensed by FUNimation Production, Ltd. All Rights Reserved

**Disclaimer 2: **All fictional character © Eileen Ayling Setiawan (author) and any aliases she assumes (H-san, Hina-chan, etc…)

**Author's Note:** This takes place _after_ the first part of Masshiro na Yuki: Pure White Snow, my fanfiction about Kinoko, the female Saiya-jin. It's a filler of sorts.

**Author's Note 2: **This was inspired by vege-chan from deviantArt. Go visit her!!

**Author's Note 3:** REALLY LONG CHAPTER! o.o;; Sorry guys…

* * *

**HIS SIDE**

**Chapter Ten: **One Day at Orange Star High

* * *

**The Tally System:** At the end of this chapter, will be a stroke under Cell's name, or really, his alias. This is how I am going to keep track of Cell's good deeds!

* * *

Cell walked to the classroom, Jaena already in her smaller form, sitting on his shoulder. She gave him directions to the classroom, telling him to go left and right. When they had finally reached the classroom, she had said in a shrill voice to "STOP". Her voice was still ringing in his ears as he entered the room without knocking.

The class and teachers alike stared at him. He stood in the doorway for some time before the teacher asked:

"Yes?"

Cell silently walked to him, handing him a note from the office that Jaena had gotten earlier and given to him just prior to leaving the cafeteria.

"Ah, Mr. Jinzouningen. Yes, I was expecting you. Welcome to Class 3-A. Please, take a seat," the teacher motioned around. Cell turned his head slowly, his pink eyes piercing into the classroom before a familiar voice broke his thoughts.

"Hey, Jinzouningen-san!"

Cell looked up seeing Goten pointing at a seat below him. Trunks sat next to him, looking distracted.

"Ah, there we go!" said the teacher happily. "Thankyou Mr. Son."

Cell sighed under his breath, walking up towards the area. In his ascent up the stairs, a person to the side put his foot out. Cell, unaware of said foot, tripped face first. The class roared with laughter. Cell stood up, growling and turning to face the person who did it. He smirked back, motioning to the teacher, who looked clueless to the injustice Cell just faced.

"I'll kill you later," Cell whispered, continuing to walk up the stairs.

The teenager and his friends feigned fear, all chorusing their "oohs" as Cell took a seat, placing his bag on the table as he leaned forward onto it.

"Mr. Seru Jinzouningen," started the teacher. "Is here as a third person. He will be observing the class, as he is just settling in."

"What, too dumb to be in A?" asked a student, causing the others to laugh.

Cell shot the student a glare, eyes falling on a student wearing the school's sports jacket. He realised the other one was wearing something similar.

"Now, now," began the mathematics teacher. "Be calm." The students went quiet as he began the lesson. Cell looked to the board.

_Easy…_ he thought, resting his head on his bag. He then felt a jab to his ribs. Cell turned, seeing a girl next to him.

"Hey," whispered Aisu. "We keep running into each other, huh?" she asked, smiling.

"Yeah, coincidence?" whispered Trunks from above.

Aisu looked up. "Ha ha, funny," she replied, sarcasm dripping in her voice, yet a playful smile on her face.

"Guys," whispered Goten, motioning to the front.

"Mr. Briefs, Miss. Sakagoshima," began the teacher, giving them a warning look.

"Gomen sensei," said Trunks and Aisu in unison.

The teacher nodded, turning back to his work. Several minutes passed, with the class writing down equations from the board. Cell felt another poke in the ribs. He turned, seeing Aisu passing him a note from under the table. Cell grabbed it, more on impulse then anything else, and read:

"Where'd you go after the tournament?" read the note.

Cell sighed, writing a reply more to amuse himself in doing something than anything else.

"Home," he replied.

Aisu read the reply and smiled.

"Even in writing you're not very talkative," read the next note.

"There's really nothing to say," he replied.

"True, but you still need to tell me nine facts," read the note after that.

Cell's eyes opened wider as he remembered that. Nine facts about himself. Not that he _had_ much to say.

"You too," he replied.

"So true, maybe we can catch up some time," read the next note.

"If I even get _into_ the school," he replied.

"Don't worry, you will. It's not too hard… except for this subject."

"I actually think this subject was the easiest."

"Serious? No way. I suck at maths. It's the bane of my existence."

"Well then, you need to get a better understanding, don't you?"

"Probably, or a bigger brain."

"I don't even think that's possible."

"I wish it were. Do you know how much better life would be if I could tap into that unknown hemisphere of my brain?"

"Shouldn't you be concentrating? THIS is why you're not doing so well."

"Right… sorry. I'll talk to you out of class."

Cell sat back, watching the front and occasionally looking at her work. He watched as she spent almost 15 minutes trying to figure out one equation. He gave himself an amused smile. She was right: she did suck.

* * *

"Welcome to English, or as I like to call it, English Literature!" came the teacher, signalling to the room. "In English we'll be reading from such authors as Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, George Orwell and playwrights like Shakespeare!"

"She does this _every_ lesson," explained Goten to Cell.

Cell looked to Goten, wondering what gave him the right to talk to him.

"Heh, you should've seen her during Valentine's Day," retorted Trunks.

Goten laughed. "Yeah, that was funny. She came in wearing Juliet-type clothing, quoting from the "greatest romance of all time", Romeo and Juliet."

"Didn't they die?" asked Cell, hearing that Shakespeare play somewhere before.

"That's what _we_ thought, but she said that their love "knew no boundary"," explained Goten, shrugging.

Cell looked to the teacher, who now sat on the table, legs crossed as she held a book in her hands.

"Samuel Taylor Coleridge?" asked Cell.

"Yeah, we're learning poetry, and it just so happened that our teacher likes horror stories and romantic tragedies," explained Trunks, putting his bag on the floor as he started taking out his English material.

"Not to mention," added Goten. "Romance in general."

"That's why she can't find anyone," whined Aisu, coming in and sitting below them on the next step down from the seminar-type seating. "She's so nice though!"

"She's weird Aichan, it's as simple as that," said Trunks, flipping his poetry book open.

Aisu stood on her chair and whacked him with her book. Then she tilted it back, seeing the page number.

"We're still on "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"?" asked Aisu, staring sceptically.

"It's a pretty long poem," nodded Goten.

Aisu sighed, sitting down cross-legged on the seminar seats and waiting. Cell sat next to her. He then noticed this seating was the exact seating from before in the _other_ classroom. As the class settled down, the teacher started reading the poem out to the class, explaining the "techniques" ("I _told_ you!" said Jaena in a matter-of-factly voice) and meanings that Coleridge was trying to get across. Cell read over Aisu's shoulder, only really vaguely interested. Aisu, sensing Cell's eyes on her back, sat back and offered him the book. Cell stared sidelong at Aisu, who smiled in return. Sighing, Cell grabbed the other side of the book so that the one book was shared between the two.

_Why the HELL am I here?_ he asked, staring as the teacher read and Aisu jotted down notes on the book.

As the teacher was explaining how the rains descending from Heaven were a sign of God's releasing of the man's curse, Cell felt something wanting to release as it descended down his inguinal area. A confused and uncomfortable look crossed his face as he started fidgeting around. Aisu, with her hand on the other side of the book, looked at him strangely.

"Are you okay?" she whispered.

"Fine," he answered quickly, biting his lower lip. He sighed, trying to remain calm, yet the pressure continued to build, as well as a feeling he had to release something and quickly.

The human side of him was screaming for something… anything… to get this sensation away. Cell swallowed hard, looking at the poem and trying to get his mind off. However, looking at the poem, his attention was drawn to the words "water, water, everywhere". As if a curse itself had set itself upon him, his mind kept repeating those words, causing a greater urge to release something. Unable to take it anymore, Cell stood up, letting go of the book, and jumped up on the table, running all the way down it, much to the surprise _and_ chagrin of the rest of the class, and out the door.

In the hallway, Cell ran left and right, his mind screaming as the urge to release whatever was in there out. He clenched his legs together, the urge only managing to grow stronger.

"What's wrong?" asked an urgent Jaena in Cell's ear.

"I need to do something…" he snapped, speed-walking down the hall as he tried to find… something.

"What do you mean?" asked Jaena, turning panicked at the expression on Cell's face.

"I don't know. I just… I feel like… I NEED TO EXPEL SOMETHING!" he yelled.

"You need to pee?" asked Jaena, a sceptical look on his face.

"To what?" asked Cell, his voice sounding slightly desperate.

"To pee… to urinate… to relieve yourself… to go take a leek… to sit on the John…"

"Okay, okay, okay, okay!" yelled Cell. "What do I do?" Cell didn't even realise he was asking for help. He was much too desperate to care.

"Go to the bathroom," explained Jaena. "Go forward…"

Cell did as he was told, Jaena directing him to the closest bathroom. He was practically running by this point, the urge to go heading to breaking point. As Cell entered the bathroom, he looked around from left to right, then looked to his shoulder.

"Now what?" he asked.

"Okay!" began Jaena. "Turn to face the urinal and loosen your belt."

"What?" snapped Cell.

"Do you want to wet yourself?" she asked, staring incredulously at Cell.

Cell sighed in frustration, facing the white porcelain urinal and unbuckling his belt quickly.

"Okay, now, unbutton the first button and undo your zipper."

Cell, despite thinking how humiliating this was, did just that, now subconsciously jumping from foot to foot.

"Hurry it up," he snapped to Jaena.

"Alright, alright, calm down," she responded. "Now, uhm… pull down your pants."

"What?" he snapped.

"Hey, I'm new at this!" she retorted angrily.

Cell grabbed the sides of his pants about to do just that when Jaena yelled:

"WAIT! No, not your pants. You gotta pull your… uhm…"

Cell looked at Jaena, growing impatient.

"My what?" he snapped, his rhythm of jumping from foot-to-foot growing quicker.

"Your ding-dong," she ended slowly, looking sidelong.

"My _what_?" he asked again, looking flustered.

"You know your…" Jaena thought about it for some time. "Do you know basic human anatomy?" she asked suddenly.

"What does this have to do with –"

"Yes or no!" she interrupted.

"Yes!" he answered, looking at Jaena with a mixed expression of desperation, agitation and incredulity.

"Then pull out your penis!" she yelled.

The room went silent for some time as Cell and Jaena stared at one another. He then did just as Jaena told him to, leaning his left arm on the wall above the urinal.

"Okay, now all you have to do is –"

Jaena's explanation was interrupted as the sound of trickling liquid could be heard around the toilets. It seemed Jaena did not have to even explain what needed to be done as Cell leaned his head on his arm, a subconscious sigh of relief expelling from his mouth.

"We gotta work on your aim…" mumbled Jaena.

Cell looked to her, and then looked down, face contorting to one of panic.

"Hey! Don't let go of it!" yelled Jaena, flitting about Cell's head.

After washing his hands, Cell walked out of the toilet, sighing. Jaena sat on his shoulder, sighing also.

"Okay, that was… interesting," she commented.

Cell glared but didn't say anything. As he walked up he saw a cleaner walking down. Cell stopped as the cleaner passed, seeing the cleaner enter the toilet.

"Oh great," groaned Cell, turning and walking away, just as he heard the cleaner inside yell:

"Oh my GOD!!"

* * *

Cell entered the classroom, sitting down next to Aisu.

"Are you alright?" asked Aisu.

"Yeah," agreed Goten, looking down. "You ran outta here like there was a fire in the school."

Cell remained silent, avoiding their questions. Lucky for him, the English teacher came up to them, causing Aisu and Goten to sit up straight once again.

"Mr. Jinzouningen? Have you relieved yourself?" asked the teacher.

Or maybe that was _un_lucky for him. Cell felt himself go red under her stare, despite desperately trying not to. He could hear the class giggle at his humiliation.

"Yes…" he answered quietly.

"Good. I'll let you off this time, but you need to ask before rushing off like that, okay?" said the teacher.

Cell nodded.

"Now," began the teacher, turning and walking down the stairs. "In "The Raven"…"

"We're onto Poe," explained Aisu at the confused look on Cell's face.

He looked to her, then down at the book in her hand. Sure enough, the poem read "The Raven", with the name "Edgar Allen Poe" underneath in smaller writing. Aisu shrugged.

"Horror and tragedy," she explained.

"And romance," added both Trunks and Goten in unison, causing Aisu to give a little smile as Cell looked out the window, an expression of irritation on his face.

* * *

After two periods of excruciating English, it was lunch, recess having just ended as Cell had walked out from doing his entrance exams. During lunch, it was then how Cell had discovered the organization of the school. Looking down at Aisu's timetable, he saw the schedules of the students.

Apparently, it was rollcall, or homeroom, in the morning, followed by two periods of class. The students were then given a break for recess and then there were three periods of classes, followed by lunch. After lunch, there were two more periods, followed by either the end of school or club activities.

"Club activities?" he read out loud, looking at Aisu's timetable.

Aisu nodded. "Mm-hmm," she added. "I'm in the Kickers Club."

"Kickers?" questioned Cell.

"Kick-boxing," explained Trunks.

"Uh-huh," agreed Goten between mouthfuls of food. "Aisu's one of the "sempai" there."

"There're sempai in kickboxing?" asked Trunks, looking strangely at him.

Goten shrugged swallowing. "Maybe, it _is_ a style of defence."

Aisu laughed, shaking her head, then turned to Cell. "How 'bout you? Are you joining any Clubs?"

"Why? Is there a point?" asked Cell.

The three shrugged.

"Gives you something to do in the afternoon," answered Trunks.

"Yeah, 'aside from homework," added Goten, making a disgusted look on his face at the mention of the dreaded "H" word.

"Ack! Maths!" agreed Aisu, throwing her head back and an expression of feigned pain on her face.

Cell looked to all three strangely.

"Well?" asked Trunks. "Any ideas?"

"I don't even know if I'm getting into this school," answered Cell.

"Well, if Goten here can get in here, then you can," said Trunks, jabbing a thumb in the direction of his best friend.

Goten glared. "That was uncalled for," he answered, crossing his arms as Trunks and Aisu laughed.

_Like father, like son…_ thought Cell, rolling his eyes.

"Okay, fine," said Aisu, breaking Cell's train of thought. "Tell us when you can. If you want to know what Clubs are in the high school, go to the school office. There're pamphlets with information."

Cell made a small sound of acknowledgement, looking elsewhere. Meanwhile, the other three started talking amongst themselves, eating lunch as they did. Cell looked out to the city, wondering when the city had been built. It certainly wasn't here when he existed. But… the place _was_ strangely familiar…

"Remember that small town from before?" came Jaena's voice in his ear. He gazed sidelong at her, an image of the backwash town appearing in his mind. He had sucked most, if not all, the residents in that place. "Well," began Jaena. "This is it."

Cell took some time to register what she had said. His face then contorted into one of sheer shock.

"What?!" he yelled.

The three turned to him, all surprised. Cell looked to them, a large sweat drop appearing on the back of his head. He swallowed hard, quickly turning away from them and trying to ignore their stares. After a while, after exchanging looks, they turned away, talking once again. Cell sighed inwardly, leaning his head on his hands, which consequently was leaning on his knees as he crossed his legs.

_This_ was that backwash town. That puny, pathetic town? What had happened?

"Satan had saved the world," came Jaena's voice, his irritation level increasing.

Satan. That bastard.

"Hey Seru!" interrupted Trunks' voice, causing the green-haired teenager to turn around. "We've been calling you for a while. Are you alright?"

Cell looked to him, his expression holding a hint of worry, then looked to the other two, who held similar expressions. He then looked back to Trunks.

"Yeah, whatever…" he mumbled looking away again.

"Well, since you're okay," said Trunks, becoming sardonic. "What classes do you have next?"

"Classes?" asked Cell.

"Yeah, there are two more periods of school left," explained Goten.

"They're our electives," added Aisu.

Cell went silent. He had hoped, well at least a _part_ of him hoped, that he was in the same classes as all three of them. But… they were electives?

"I…"

"Checkthebackpocketofyourpants!!" said Jaena's voice hurriedly in his ear.

"… need to check first," ended Cell, turning away from them and standing up. He checked the back pocket of his school pants, feeling a piece of paper in there. He realised she must have slipped in there during that hug in the hallway. Taking it out, he opened the folded paper, reading. On top, it read "Rough Copy – Seru Jinzouningen". He then looked down at the timetable, seeing the first two periods were, indeed, P.E. as Jaena had stated, although the boxes were crossed out with red pen. The three periods after that were Mathematics, followed by two periods of English. It was now lunch. He looked down at the two periods after lunch, seeing two different subjects:

_Chemistry…_ he read mentally. Being a biologically engineered life form (prior to being Human), Cell knew a thing or two about chemistry. He then looked down at the other subject, eyebrow going up in confusion. Before he himself could question the subject, the paper was snatched from his grip with an exclamation of:

"Yoink!"

"Hey!" retaliated Cell, trying to grab the paper but finding it quickly drawn back, Goten holding it up to his face as he read. Cell growled under his breath.

"Ah Chemistry!" exclaimed Goten, grinning. "Me and Trunks-kun do Chemistry!"

"That would be _Trunks-kun and I_, Goten," corrected Aisu.

"Nah, you don't do Chem Aisu. You hate Chem."

Aisu sighed, shaking her head. Meanwhile, Trunks, looking over Goten's shoulder, looked to the other subject. He then stared at Cell sceptically.

"Home Economics?" questioned Trunks slowly.

All three looked to him.

"Do you know what Home Ec is?" asked Goten, realising it _was_ in the timetable. To Goten, Cell, or really Seru, did not look like the "cooking type".

Cell feigned thinking, finger scratching his chin as he hummed.

"No," he then said abruptly, staring at them blankly.

"Really? But these are electives. _You_ pick them," explained Trunks, Goten nodding.

"I didn't pick them," he answered candidly.

"Oh," answered Goten after much silence. "Well, Home Ec is…"

"… Cooking and cleaning and shit," ended Trunks.

"There's no cleaning in Home Ec, stupid!" snapped Aisu, smacking Trunks' arm.

"Ow, hey, watch it!" retorted Trunks.

Goten chuckled. "Aisu does Home Ec," he informed Cell, Cell looking to her sceptically.

"You guys couldn't cook if your life depended on it," she then retorted, crossing her arms.

"I can cook!" responded Goten, looking pouty.

"Suuuure Goten-kun," said Aisu sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "The last time you cooked something, you were seeing dwarves dancing around you."

Cell looked on incredulously, yet beginning to feel slightly amused.

"No!" countered Goten. His eyes then shifted away as he mumbled: "They were elves…"

Under his breath and with head turned away, Cell chuckled quietly.

* * *

The last two periods came and went uneventfully. In Chemistry, Cell was partnered up with a teenager who people deemed the "class clown". His antics weren't particularly funny to Cell… or friendly. He wasn't very intelligent too.

During their practical, they were supposed to work out the chemical properties of different unnamed chemicals, where the teacher allowed them to use their textbooks and information. Easy enough, according to the teacher and half the class. Cell's lab partner, however, decided to make things difficult as he _continually_ whined about having to pair up with the "Freakazoid", whom Cell believed was a reference to himself. He then stated that Cell was not to touch any of the practical material, because he would only "ruin the experiment". Shrugging, Cell had finished his theoretical work (he knew all answers even before the experiment had started) and sat back, amused and quite enjoying himself as the teenager made mistakes at every point in the experiment.

After the teacher had called that they had 30 more minutes left, Cell took it upon himself to fix the experiment, finishing it in 25 minutes and allowing his lab partner to record the results. Jaena had then told him that he had done a good deed, rewarding him one down.

_Feh, I only did it to show him how incompetent he was,_ thought Cell, hitching his bag as he walked out.

As he did, he heard both Trunks and Goten wish him farewell and good luck in Home Economics. Turning around slowly, he saw them waving, other classmates sniggering.

It seemed there was more to rag about in relation to this new kid.

In Home Economics, Cell entered the classroom, finding himself in a room full of mostly girls with some male students here and there. They all wore white aprons and bandanas, each already behind a specific desk that had both cooking equipment and room to do the theoretical work. He stared, looking around the room, seeing all eyes on him. He spotted a familiar face, Aisu waving at him from a far corner. His inspection was interrupted, however, as two hands were placed on his shoulders, causing Cell to give a small yell in surprise as he whirled around, coming face-to-face with a woman, her greying hair tied back in a long ponytail and a similar white bandana over it.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Jinzouningen!" she said genially, smiling just as warmly. "I've been expecting you!"

She led him to the front of the class, where she turned him to face it, much like when he had entered.

"Class 3-A!" she began, clapping Cell's shoulders. "This is your new classmate, Seru Jinzouningen! And what a strong lad y'are!" she commented, clapping his shoulders again.

Some students smirked, namely those who had laughed at him earlier in English and Maths.

"Now, I will be assigning Seru-san with…" she looked around the class, her eyes falling on a student with blonde hair. "… You Miss Hoshikawa."

"What?" she responded. "But, sensei," she argued. "Have I not been one of the top members of your class? He'll only corrupt me!"

"Nonsense," responded the teacher, pushing Cell towards her. "He'll learn a lot from a model student like you! You could even put it on your college application!"

The student seemed to consider this, then nodded. As Cell looked closely at her, he realised she was the same girl from the bus.

_Oh great, I'm with Mary Sue,_ he thought, crossing his arms and leaning on the desk as the teacher prepped the class for that day's practical.

He turned his head, seeing Aisu glancing at him. As their eyes met, she shrugged, a wry smile on her face. She then motioned to her partner, Cell seeing a girl with black, wavy hair, pale skin and a thick layer of eyeliner on her face. He then took a sweeping look around the room, seeing that all the students in this room ranged from popular to not-so-popular. It seemed Home Economics was the subject that "brought people together".

"Okay, are we ready?" asked the teacher.

"Hai!" responded the class in unison.

"Whatever…" mumbled Cell; turning to face the kitchen area he was assigned.

She was already doing everything, completely ignoring Cell. He merely allowed her to do everything. She _had_ been doing it for most of the year. It was _only_ fair. As if reading his thoughts, she whirled on him and snapped:

"If you aren't going to help!" she yelled, that Valley Girl accent clearly apparent. "I'm not going to make you!"

Cell stared at her sceptically.

"Who said I wanted to help you?" he asked, face still expressionless.

She opened her mouth as if to answer, then shut it again, speechless. Cell shrugged, picking up his sheet of paper, and reading as she let out a frustrated sigh and whirled around, once again starting to cook.

"It said two cups, not three," he corrected, smirking as she glared at him.

Maybe this was going to be more fun than he originally thought.

By the end of class, the teenager, with Cell every now and then correcting her _every little mistake_, had made the cake assigned to them at the beginning of class. Every one tasted the cakes, taking slices of each other's and talking. The cake Cell's group had made, or really the girl had made, was strawberry short cake. While the classmates tasted the cake, commenting on its goodness, Aisu talked with Cell.

"You really pissed her off, didn't you?" asked Aisu, staring at the girl with slight concern.

"She was being hostile. I was merely retaliating with similar hostility."

"Her boyfriend is the quarterback of the Orange Star team. She has friends from every single sports team… I mean… she's one of the most popular girls in school. Not even _I'm_ mean to her, and she's been bullying me since the beginning of middle school."

"I was repaying her debt in kind."

"Karma? Yeah, but you need to leave that alone. Karma works in mysterious and sneaky ways."

Cell scoffed. "Then maybe I was _sent_ here," he said sarcastically.

Aisu shrugged. "Maybe."

Cell stared at her sceptically. "You _believe_ in that crap?" he asked.

"It's _not_ crap, karma can happen. For example, I help a lot of people, and my life is going great! It's the way of the world. As the saying goes: no good deed goes undone!"

As Cell was about to reply, they both heard a disgusted scoff behind them. They both turned, seeing a group of girls, Cell's partner in the lead, staring at them with amused and slightly aghast looks on their faces.

"Oh my God, don't tell me Nurse Matilda's two-timing!" exclaimed a girl with short brown hair. (1)

"Ah, yeah, look at her and the Momma's Boy!" said another.

Aisu merely smiled in their direction, Cell glaring.

"How's about I give you a new ass hole?" asked Cell, that chilling smile on his face as he looked directly at his new cooking partner.

The girls turned a slight shade of pale at the look he bore into them. They then swallowed hard, mumbled their excuses to leave, and left Aisu and Cell alone. Aisu blinked blankly at the girls then turned to look at Cell, whose smile was already gone from his face.

"Hm…" she hummed as Cell turned to look at her.

* * *

**Seru Jinzouningen / Cell Tally System:**

I (whoo-hoo!)

(1) "Nurse Matilda" is a book about a nanny who helps the rowdiest of children. "Nanny McPhee" is an adaptation to this popular children's book.


	12. HIS SIDE: The Football Team

**Redemption's Side**

**Disclaimer: **Dragonball Z and all its characters © Akira Toriyama, BIRD STUDIO/SHUEISHA, TOEI Animation. Licensed by FUNimation Production, Ltd. All Rights Reserved

**Disclaimer 2: **All fictional character © Eileen Ayling Setiawan (author) and any aliases she assumes (H-san, Hina-chan, etc…)

**Author's Note:** This takes place _after_ the first part of Masshiro na Yuki: Pure White Snow, my fanfiction about Kinoko, the female Saiya-jin. It's a filler of sorts.

**Author's Note 2: **This was inspired by vege-chan from deviantArt. Go visit her!!

**Author's Note 3:** I made an allusion to Ouran Koukou in this chapter. :D Wheee!

* * *

**HIS SIDE**

**Chapter Eleven: The Football Team**

* * *

**Cell's Fighting Ability, part two:** In this chapter, Cell unleashes a can of whoop-ass on a group of jocks. These jocks were actually _similar_ to the jocks that he had earlier fought and killed when he was Imperfect Cell all those years ago. However, because he is _much_ weaker now, he has a lot of trouble fighting them. During the fight, however, he does hold his own. Can you guess which power he unleashes during this moment?

* * *

Cell walked through the hallways, wanting to get back to Hell, literally. He did have fun amusing himself with Home Economics and Chemistry, but what he had to put up with was ridiculous. He wanted to rip them to shreds, but unfortunately, he lacked the power to do so. As he hitched up his bag and continued walking, he felt his bag get jerked back, along with himself.

Before Cell fell, he whirled around; whacking whatever had grabbed him away. He came face-to-face with a red-shirted, raven-haired bulking teenager, who stared down at him like a bull to a Matador.

"You've been insulting my girlfriend?" he asked, pushing Cell in the shoulder.

Cell stared at him, as cold as always.

"By girlfriend you mean that dumb blonde with the IQ of 3?" replied Cell.

"Like that! You've been insulting her like that, huh?" The teenager pushed Cell two more times.

Cell sighed, turning around, one hand holding onto the strap of his bag. "I haven't got time for this," he said dismissively, about to walk away.

"Good!" said Jaena's voice in his ear. "Walk away. It's much better than –"

Jaena stopped, looking forward as three white-shirted teenagers, as bulky as the red-shirted one, blocked Cell's trail.

"Oh, I see," said Cell, his arms now at his sides as Jaena sighed miserably. "Idiots work in packs," he commented, seeing as two more white-shirted teenagers came either side of him.

"_III_'m outta here…" said Jaena, disappearing from Cell's shoulder.

"Grr, I'll get you for insulting my girl!" retorted the quarterback, cracking his knuckles. He lumbered towards Cell, his bulky arms going out as if to grab him.

Cell, his back still to the quarterback, turned his head to him.

"Too slow," commented Cell, bending low and jumping up, back flipping over the quarterback.

He planted both hands on the quarterback's shoulders, leg digging in the niche of his back and falling backward. As Cell hit the floor, the quarterback parallel to him, Cell kicked with the leg in his back, sending the quarterback flying towards his team as Cell got to his feet. The quarterback looked at Cell in shock, unbelieving that this small fry could pick up someone as big as him. Cell cracked his neck from side-to-side, and then cracked his knuckles as he motioned his head in a taunt for more.

"Get him!" yelled the quarterback to his team mates. They responded by rushing towards him, their backs hunched as if they were getting into a scrum.

Cell sidestepped their one-tracked advances, grabbing the one to the side from the collar and throwing him towards their "leader". The team member and the quarterback collided with an "ooph". From behind, one member grabbed Cell, his arms hooked underneath Cell's arms. Cell smirked, reaching around and grabbing the teenager behind his collar as he bent down, pulling him over and causing him to collide with the floor. The teenager, winded, lay on the floor. Cell looked to the rest of the team mates who advanced once again. Cell's face twisted into a grin as he charged similarly at them. As the first came, Cell hit him with a punch to the face, causing him to sprawl onto a team mate behind him. From behind, another tried to attack. Cell used the momentum from his last punch to swing back, hitting him in the jaw. He then grabbed the same member and Judo-threw him to the floor. Standing to his full height, he smirked at the quarterback who stared at him, infuriated.

"HUDDLE!" he yelled, his team coming back to him.

Cell rolled his eyes. "Humans…" he mumbled.

"DOG PILE!!" he then heard.

Cell looked to them as they all charged at once. Before Cell could respond, two grabbed him from the side, pinning him against the wall. Others then formed a kind of wall around both Cell and the quarterback, who was giving him a haughty look.

"I'll teach you!" he yelled, punching Cell in the stomach.

A wave of pain swept over Cell's body as he clenched his teeth, preventing him from crying out in pain, a natural response to human pain. Another punch had Cell doubling over, gasping for air.

_This idiot will pay…_ was the only thought going through Cell's mind as the quarterback continually punched Cell in the stomach, over and over and over. He barely even noticed when the quarterback stopped, interrupted as someone jumped on his shoulder, wrapping her legs around his neck and back flipping, bringing him down.

Cell did notice, however, when his body was dropped to the floor, the football team running away.

"That was close," came her voice through the haze.

Cell looked up, seeing Aisu smiling down at him.

"You okay?" she asked, bending down just as close as previously they were in the hall.

"Fine," he growled, standing and clutching his stomach.

She handed him his bag, which he had dropped during the "dog pile". He snatched it, walking down the hall. After about five steps, his legs gave way. Just as he fell on one knee, Aisu grabbed his arm, pulling him.

"Suuuuuure…" she muttered, dragging him to the infirmary.

He saw her roll her eyes and heard her muttering something about 'male bravado'.

* * *

At the Infirmary, Aisu handed him a pamphlet. Cell looked at it, one hand grabbing it whilst the other clutched an ice pack to his gut.

"It's got all the clubs in it. You can pick whatever gets your interest," she explained. She then sighed, looking outside.

"Well," she began. "Gotta go. My Club's probably going to "give me a new ass hole" as you put it." She giggled.

He looked away, pushing his knees into his chest to hold the ice pack there without actually holding it. She bent down, patting him lightly on the head, and then stood up straight, walking to the door.

"Ja ne!" she farewelled, waving her hand up high without turning around. She then disappeared through the door.

Sighing, Cell looked at the pamphlet, flipping through it. The first few pages dealt with the Sports-related Clubs. He read through them, looking bored.

_American Football Club, Hockey Club, Kickboxing Club, Spelunking Club…_ he read. He stopped at a club called the _Fighters Club_, reading:

"The Fighters Club was formed at the same time as the reintroduction of the Tenkaichi Budoukai. It pays homage to the greatest fighters of all, including the Saviour of the World, Hercule Satan. Videl Satan, alumni of Orange Star High and daughter of Mr. Satan, was once a member of The Fighters Club."

_Heh, and here I thought you could actually _fight_ people…_ he thought, closing the pamphlet just as the nurse came into the office.

"Your matron will probably be coming in a few minutes," she explained. "Are you okay? Not beaten too bad I hope."

"Fine," he answered bluntly.

The nurse nodded, and then looked to the pamphlet in his hands.

"Ah, wanting to join a Club, eh?" she asked, giving him a smile.

Cell looked to her, then down at the pamphlet.

"No, I –"

"I can help you, you know? I know all the organisers of the Clubs. Why don't you come see me and we'll get it sorted?" she asked.

Cell opened his mouth to retort, but was interrupted by Jaena, or really Janet's, voice.

"That would be splendid!" she said from behind the nurse.

The nurse turned, surprised. She then smiled and bowed.

"Ah, nice to meet you Ms Harvington!" she exclaimed.

Janet nodded. "Thankyou so much for looking after Seru-kun! He can be a handful! You know, he used to run around the orphanage naked!" exclaimed Janet, laughing.

The nurse laughed also. "Ah, my son also. They grow up so fast, you think?"

"Oh definitely," nodded Jaena, feigning sadness. "Well," began Jaena. "I best get Seru-kun home. He must be aching from whatever he's been through."

The nurse nodded, bowing at Jaena, then smiled to Cell and left. As Jaena came in, she smiled wryly at the expression on his face.

"Naked around the orphanage?!" he hissed.

Jaena shrugged. "I need to make _some_ childhood memories you know."

Cell growled, grabbing his bag and standing up, throwing the ice pack in the corner. He stalked out of the room, Jaena following him out with an amused grin.

* * *

Already in his apartment, he was met with plastic bags full of white containers.

"What's this?" he asked, pointing.

"Food," replied Jaena, taking out said containers and placing them on the table in her "Janet Harvington" form. "For an afternoon snack and dinner. You're hungry, right?"

Cell went silent, staring at Jaena with a blank look. She grinned in victory, and then turned to walk to the back of the kitchen.

"Did you know we have a pantry back here?" she asked. Cell walked towards the kitchen, seeing a door hidden behind the fridge to the back of it.

"And?" asked Cell, disinterested as he walked back to the table and opened a white container, seeing an assortment of rice, vegetables and meats.

"There're tonnes of stuff in here, including… hey, what _is_ this?"

Cell looked up, eyes going wide as he saw Jaena holding a chainsaw in her hands. She shrugged, walking back inside and putting it back. Cell's eyes shifted left and right, his eyes falling on the couch. Maybe that _was_ blood…

Shrugging it off, he picked up the utensils that came with the food and started eating. As he was halfway through the meal, he felt her on his shoulder. He turned.

"When did you –"

"_Hellooo_? Ogress bestowed with gifts from Yama-sama himself?" she said, waving her small hands around as if emphasising that fact. "I can go in and out of this form at will. Although after two hours it's automatic."

"Uh-huh…" answered Cell, turning back to his food.

After much silence, with Cell filling the human need to eat, Jaena suddenly spoke: "I got you a job."

Cell stopped chewing, eyes slowly turning towards the ogress, who grinned at him from where she sat.

"What?" he asked, as if he had not heard her.

"I got you a –"

"I _know_ what you said!" he retorted, standing up as she floated off his shoulders, avoiding getting knocked off-balance. "Why? I don't need a –"

"On the contrary!" interrupted Jaena, motioning around. "Your apartment _definitely_ needs some fixing up! And you need money for food, transport, rent and clothes. I've used most of the money Yama-sama gave us from the Other World storeroom."

"Storeroom? What storeroom?"

"Well, when people die, we get the money that was on them. Although that's rare, cause most of the deaths are either in bed or involved getting money taken from them."

Cell sighed in frustration.

"The place is good though," reassured Jaena. "Good people, good pay, good name too!"

Cell glared at Jaena.

"It's called BMXpress," she added, as if that was going to help the situation.

"I hate you!" he growled, hands shaking at his sides.

She laughed, almost nervous, and then disappeared in a flash. Cell, standing in his school uniform in his kitchen, yelled in aggravation.

* * *

**Read backwards to get the answer to Cell's Fighting Ability:** ATEGEV 


	13. HIS SIDE: A New Job! BMXpress!

**Redemption's Side**

**Disclaimer: **Dragonball Z and all its characters © Akira Toriyama, BIRD STUDIO/SHUEISHA, TOEI Animation. Licensed by FUNimation Production, Ltd. All Rights Reserved

**Disclaimer 2: **All fictional character © Eileen Ayling Setiawan (author) and any aliases she assumes (H-san, Hina-chan, etc…)

**Author's Note:** This takes place _after_ the first part of Masshiro na Yuki: Pure White Snow, my fanfiction about Kinoko, the female Saiya-jin. It's a filler of sorts.

**Author's Note 2: **This was inspired by vege-chan from deviantArt. Go visit her!!

* * *

**HIS SIDE**

**Chapter Twelve: A New Job! BMXpress!**

* * *

**BMXpress:** This is the place where Cell, or really, Seru Jinzouningen, begins working. It's a place where those who otherwise would've been rejected by society come to work and become an accepted, working member of society. Many of the employees are orphans, rejects of society, or those that have been through hard times. As a courier business, packages come in and out of the place, ranging from small to large. Old-fashioned, the "Boss" prefers biking than using cars, especially because bikes can easily roam the streets without fear of delay or accident.

* * *

Cell trudged along the worn paths of his neighbourhood, Jaena giving him directions to his workplace. He looked ahead, looking at the scuffed paths and the different smells that seemed to emanate from different streets. 

As much as he _didn't_ want to go, Jaena had said that if he didn't go for the job, he would most likely have to beg on the streets to earn this material called money.

There was a simple equation that came to mind when Cell thought of begging:

Cell + begging human pity

He silently scoffed under his breath. No way was he going to lower himself to such base methods to get money. Money was _not_ worth that much. A sharp smack to his head got him back into reality. He turned, seeing Jaena staring at him with a look of annoyance on her face.

"I said turn left! Left!" she yelled.

Cell growled, swatting her away from his shoulder. He then turned and walked forward.

"RIGHT!" she yelled appearing on top of his head.

"You said left," he snapped, staring up.

"Well, you're facing the other way, right!" she yelled down at him, stomping a high-heeled shoe on his head.

He winced in pain, growled angrily, and turned into the street. As he continued walking forward he found himself face-to-building face with a building that looked more like a club than a courier's workplace. In neon lights the words BMXpress buzzed, the 'r' in 'press' blinking out so that the sign occasionally read "BMXp-ess". He gave a sidelong look to Jaena, who merely grinned at him.

"See, it's nice," she said.

"Are you going through a midlife crises?" asked Cell, blank, unassuming and blunt as always.

Jaena went silent, eyes wide as she looked to him. She then opened her mouth and closed it several times, looking very similar to a fish. Then, with a growl and a sudden flame of anger, she disappeared, saying:

"For that you can deal with this on your own!!"

Cell looked to the now-empty space on his shoulder with a scepticism that matched his want to turn and go back to the apartment. However, with no idea _how_ to get back to the godforsaken place, he merely turned to the entrance, glared at it as if were going to bite him, and then walked in.

* * *

Within the walls of BMXpress, teenagers bustled about rows of lockers, some looking into the lockers, others sitting on the benches that lined the room. Some carried parcels, others fastened on black gloves or helmets. Some appeared his age, and others appeared older. One thing they all had in common: all of them wore bright, fluorescent clothing. Already, Cell could feel the feeling of imminent doom within him. 

Standing in the entrance, however, did not make things any more pleasing for him as someone shoved by him.

"SUMIMASEN!!" yelled the person, although didn't even turn to look to Cell as he raced forward.

"This must be some strange form of Hell…" mumbled Cell.

"May I help you?" came a voice, interrupting his musings.

Cell turned, seeing a man in a suit, the only normal-looking person in the joint. The man stared down at him through crescent-shaped spectacles, his dark eyes inspecting. He then raised his brows.

"Oh, Seru right?"

Cell looked to the man with a mixture of shock and scepticism. How did he know? As if reading his thoughts the man gave an amiable grin, clapping Cell on the shoulder.

"Your mother gave me your resume, said you needed a job. You look like a strong lad. I think you'll fit in well here."

"She's not –"

"Okay!" interrupted the man, looking at Cell's face. "You seem like the type to fit in."

"Are you judging off of my appearance?" asked Cell bluntly, trying not to be too irritated at the man's interruption.

The man looked the teenager in the face, as if shocked by such a question.

"Why no, my lad. You just look like you would be able to interact with the goings-on here. Especially since you're a street kid."

"I'm not a –"

"Okay!" interrupted the man, turning away and looking towards the bustling locker room. He took a scan around the room, then turned to Cell, giving him another smile. "I think Romana would do you well."

"Who's –"

"ROMANA!!" yelled the man.

Immediately a woman came to the front, her long fringe streaked pink against her black hair, her nails painted green, and her eyes surrounded by a thick layer of mascara. It didn't take long for Cell to realise she was the girl who sat next to Aisu in Home Economics… or at least looked like her.

"Whaddya want Boss?" she asked through chewed gum.

"I need you to take care of Seru here."

She looked from the boss to Seru, inspecting the teenager up and down. She then nodded.

"I don't see why not," she answered, shrugging.

"Great," replied the boss. He then turned to Cell. "Romana will take care of you. There's also Ozz and Ulya if you need anything else."

Cell opened his mouth to say something but found his arm clasped around Romana's own as she dragged him into the depths of the employee locker room.

* * *

"OK!" began Romana, her gloved arms signalling around the room. "Welcome to the employee locker room. This is where we, as employees, store our things and prep for the ride to the client –" She motioned to a locker labelled 96. " – That's your locker." 

Cell looked at the locker, wondering why he seemed to always get those two numbers. It was probably Yama's doing.

"As newbie, you shall be known as Squid, and Squid you shall be known as!" pronounced Romana, patting Cell on the head.

"I don't see why you have to call me that!" snapped Cell, smacking her hand away.

"Woah cool it," she said, hands up and a wry grin on her face. "I used to be a Squid too, once upon a time. What's your story anyway?"

"My what?" spat Cell

"Your story. You know… how did you grow up?"

"I don't think you need to know that," he said, looking around the locker room, more in a bid to get to know his strange surroundings than to avoid the question.

"That's understandable; you'll tell us when you trust us."

"Us?"

"Uh-huh, Club Xpress is a family you know."

"Club Xpress? I thought this was BMXpress."

Romana shrugged. "Yeah, but Club Xpress is the family unit. BMXpress is just the name of the house. That makes you –" Romana held a thoughtful look on her face. She then snapped her fingers and grabbed Cell, dragging him to another location.

"What are you –" started Cell, trying to get his arm from her grip. He was surprised to find his arm in a death grip.

"I'm taking you to Ozz," she simply replied.

As she reached her destination, Cell found himself in another locker area. She walked down the locker corridor, greeting others on the way. Cell growled under his breath, cursing Yama, Jaena, Earth, and most of all, the woman who refused to let go of his arm.

"Ozzy!" she then called, breaking Cell's thoughts.

Cell looked up, seeing a blonde coming towards them, his arms wide in a display of affection as he reached Romana. They hugged briefly before pulling apart, Ozz's arms on Romana's shoulders, and Romana in a similar position.

"Hey! How are ya?" asked Ozz, grinning wryly.

Romana shrugged. "You know – this and this, that and that."

Ozz chuckled, and then looked curiously at the green-haired teenager to Romana's right.

"Friend?" he asked.

Romana laughed, placing a hand on Cell's head. "This is Seru, our new Squid!"

"Ohh!" gushed Ozz, flicking Cell between the eyes.

Cell flinched, pulling back and rubbing the area.

"We have a son!!" cried Ozz, his hand now on Cell's head as he messed Cell's hair.

Cell growled, whacking away Ozz's hand.

"He's not very friendly though," mused Ozz, standing next to Romana with a hand to his chin. Romana was in the same posture, nodding with Ozz's sentiments.

"I am _not_ your son. And stop looking at me like that, what d'you take me for, a science specimen!" Cell snapped. He had the right mind to smack both of them one, and probably would have too, if not for the fact that, right then, someone came from behind him, causing his heart to seize in a panic.

"Hello," came the sudden, unexpected and almost scary greeting.

Cell screamed, twisting around on one leg. He must have overtwisted as he found himself being caught by both Ozz and Romana who pulled him up. They then greeted the person whom was behind Cell with a:

"HELLOOO ULYA!!!"

The young boy nodded. To Cell he looked almost like a child.

"Ulya here," began Ozz, jerking Cell onto his feet. "– Is our resident fifteen-year-old, though he turns sixteen this year."

Ulya looked up, eyes unblinking as he looked to Cell. He then peered in closer as Cell glared at him.

"You have the soul of a creature," he said bluntly.

Cell swallowed hard.

"Creature? Pshaw" said Romana, crossing her arms.

"Huh?" asked Cell looking to Romana with darting eyes.

"FYI, I had a soul of a bat according to Ulyu. That's so unfair. I'd love to have one of a creature."

Cell looked at the girl sceptically. FYI? What the Hell did that mean?

Ozz chuckled, and then raised his arms above his head as he wriggled his fingers, stalking towards Cell. "Ulyu can sense your _soooouuuuuulll_!" he said in a tone that was supposed to be spooky, but only got Cell irritated.

"I'm surrounded by idiots…" he mumbled, looking away. However, his sight fell on Ulyu, who still looked to him unblinking. "What?" he snapped.

Slowly, Ulyu gave a smile.

"Romana!" cried the voice of a teenager standing near the entrance to that particular locker room corridor. "Boss's calling you!"

"Okay!" replied Romana. She farewelled the three men then went to go forward.

"Wait!" continued the teenager.

Romana stopped. "What?!" she yelled in questioning.

"He said you have to take the noob with ya!"

Romana looked slightly surprised, and then a smile spread across her face as she turned to Cell, who was wondering what language these people were speaking. He looked to her, growing more confused at the expression of glee on her face.

"What?" he snapped, backing away slightly.

"Looks like we're going on a run," she said, grabbing Cell's arm and dragging him forward.

* * *


	14. HIS SIDE: Cold Food, Puke and Antacids

**Redemption's Side**

**Disclaimer: **Dragonball Z and all its characters © Akira Toriyama, BIRD STUDIO/SHUEISHA, TOEI Animation. Licensed by FUNimation Production, Ltd. All Rights Reserved

**Disclaimer 2: **All fictional characters © Eileen Ayling Setiawan (author) and any aliases she assumes (H-san, Hina-chan, etc…)

**Author's Note:** This takes place _after_ the first part of Masshiro na Yuki: Pure White Snow, my fanfiction about Kinoko, the female Saiya-jin. It's a filler of sorts.

**Author's Note 2: **This was inspired by vege-chan.

* * *

**HIS SIDE**

**Chapter Thirteen: Cold Food, Puke and Antacids…**

* * *

**Cell's Apartment:** Okay, so I bet all of you are wondering what's up with Cell's apartment. His apartment plays a central part in the story, where he sleeps, eats, does his homework and generally gripes on about how much he hates his second life. Cell's apartment is one-bedroom, with no walls except for the four walls that make up the block he lives in. His kitchen and bathroom are connected, his plumbing is literally full of crap, his bed is now unusable, and his television is probably a black-and-white set that doesn't show much in the way of television. Despite this, Cell doesn't care about the utilities or the cockroach and rat infestation, he just wants to get back to Hell and stay there… permanently.

* * *

At school, the next day, Cell laid his head on the desk in front of him, alone in the quiet of one of the many seminar rooms within the High School. He thought of this morning, unable to contain a groan that escaped his mouth.

That morning he had woken up with extreme pain in his stomach, after which he had been sitting on something called a "toilet" for half an hour, bent over, in pain and feeling extremely faint.

It was embarrassing…

Now, after taking antacids, his stomach was calmer, though he had kept the small packet of stomach pills in his bag just in case. Furthermore, he stayed well away from the cafeteria; refusing to eat anything for fear that he would be sitting on the toilet for another half an hour.

Though, he realized, as he sat there, his head seemed to be pounding harder and pain throbbed on either side. He was also feeling all of a sudden colder. Closing his eyes, a sudden feeling of weariness overrode his senses, but he came back to reality as he heard a voice above him.

"Jinzouningen-san?" said the familiar voice, causing Seru's face to contort into annoyance as his eyes shot open. He sat up, his head looking up as it leaned on the back of the chair, coming face-to-face with Goten, his best friend Trunks nowhere to be found.

"What?" snapped Seru, his arms clasped over his stomach.

"Something wrong?" asked Goten, looking genuinely concerned at the paler-than-normal complexion of Seru's skin. It was stark white against his black facial tattoos. Plus, he was sweating in an air-conditioned room.

"Fine," said Seru bluntly, his head bowing forward. But it was not fine. His stomach was starting to act up now, the pain pushing up and a sudden heat enveloping his heart. He stood up, hoping that it would help, but the pain only managed to increase. Something inside of him told him he needed to get out of the room. As he walked to the stairs, his stomach seemed to twist inside of his body, pain increasing double fold. Something burned his oesophagus.

It was official.

He was dying.

Another groan, Cell unable to contain it, escaped his mouth as he doubled over, clutching his stomach as he stood on the stairs.

"Jinzouningen-san… you're not ok," said Goten, his voice growing distant... almost echoing. "Maybe you should go to the doctors…"

"I don't need a damn doctor…" he replied, but the environment around him seemed to blur and haze, the room spinning to the point where Cell had no idea which way was up and which way was down. The burning in his oesophagus increased and before Cell knew it, he had fallen onto both knees, his stomach jerking inwards as a foul taste filled his mouth.

Everything after that was forgotten as his world went black.

* * *

Trunks and Aisu walked to the nurse's room, Goten having told them about the situation. As they arrived there, they found Goten sitting outside the nurse's station, who greeted them as they entered. 

"What happened?" asked Trunks looking perplexed.

"He threw up," said Goten simply, pointing a finger inside.

"Must've been bad…" said Aisu, looking worried.

Goten gave a wry smile. "You're not kidding –" with that, he reached into his pant pocket and took out his phone. Pressing a few buttons, he then turned his phone to the two, causing them to cringe, both looking disgusted.

"GOTEN!" yelled Trunks, looking away as Goten pressed a few buttons once again and returned his phone to his pocket.

"I couldn't resist. But I took him here immediately after," said Goten sheepishly.

"Augh, he fell into his own –" started Aisu.

"Yeah," interrupted Goten. "It was pretty bad."

"Is he changed?"

Goten nodded, explaining: "Yep, the nurse got him into extra school uniform she had stowed away. His clothes are in a rucksack somewhere. I'm not too sure. I wanted to get away from the smell after bringing him from the classroom to here."

"I bet," exclaimed Trunks peering into the halls of the nurse's office.

"Well… should we check up on him?" asked Aisu.

"I think it should be ok," reassured Goten after Trunks' expression looked sceptical. "The nurse covered it up with saw dust."

"F-fine…" said Trunks, stepping in first, the other two following right behind him.

* * *

Cell awoke, smelling something akin to wood. As he stirred, he realized he lay on something relatively soft but synthetic. Forcing himself up, his stomach protested with the same pain he had that morning. Cell made a low growl – it wasn't a nightmare after all. 

Closing his eyes, his hands pressed to his stomach, he took the rare, solitary moment to drown in his misery. It was then that his lone moment was ruined as he saw three figures coming in from the door to his side.

The two Saiya-jin brats and that girl.

A look of suffering crossed his face as he saw them, which all three mistook as pain.

"Aw man, don't tell me you're gonna throw up again?" asked Goten, stopping and taking a step back, an action which best friend Trunks followed.

"No," snapped Cell, turning his head away from the two.

"Phew…'cause I swear, whatever you ate smells horrible," said Goten, looking relaxed.

"Are you okay?" asked Aisu, closing the gap between the two Saiya-jins and the humanoid Cell.

"Fine," said Cell bitterly.

"Not where we're standing," said Trunks, crossing his arms as he remained at the door, the furthest of the three. It seemed he was wary of the incident that happened in the classroom.

As if reading his mind, Aisu then stated: "Goten-san's got some picture of you on the classroom steps. I think you might be really sick."

Cell stopped, processing what Aisu had just said. He then turned to Goten, a livid expression on his face. "YOU WHAT!?" he yelled, startling the nurse in the other room, who let out a terrified squeal at the sudden outburst of her patient.

Meanwhile, Goten gave a nervous laugh. "Nice one Aisu," he said between a smile and gritted teeth.

Aisu, whom had cringed as his scream had floated, or more burst, over her ears and around the room, gave a nervous chuckle. "Well… that is… he would never send it around…" she continued, trying to rectify the situation.

Cell turned a deep shade of red as he swung his legs over the bed he was resting on and stood up. "You – you sonofa –" He stopped short as his stomach churned, that pain once again enveloping over and up. In front of Goten and Trunks, Cell then fell on his knees and puked once again, causing the purple-haired hybrid to groan in disgust and walk away. Goten merely watched in awe as the contents of the green-haired individual's stomach emptied out in front of him. All that was left seemed to be water.

At that moment, the nurse came in, sighing miserably as she saw the state of the room.

"Okay everyone, out of the room," she said sternly. "Aisu-san, please help your friend up."

Aisu made a face akin to 'why me' but went to Cell, grabbing his arm and helping him up, Cell stumbling as Aisu helped him step over his own sick and out of the room.

After some time, Jaena appeared at the school, entering into the nurse's office. By that point, the three had left, having to go to classes. With the three gone, Jaena started cuddling and petting Cell, looking very much like a motherly figure.

"Oh my poor Seru," said Jaena, now Janet Harvington, as she cradled Cell, Cell looking annoyed at the display. "I told him not to eat cold food, but Seru here just _refuses_ to listen," she continued, giving a forlorn look to the nurse.

The nurse smiled at Jaena. "Sometimes my boy is like that too," she said.

Jaena gave a smile back as Cell tore himself away from her grip. "Can I go home now?" asked Cell, looking at the nurse. He had been yearning to go home for some time, though the nurse had refused, stating that an appointed guardian must be there.

The nurse nodded her approval, causing Cell to stand and walk. He stumbled after 10 paces, causing Jaena to catch him. Much to Cell's chagrin, the rest of the way out of the high school was made on her supportive shoulder.

* * *

Returning home after what seemed like forever, Cell went to the makeshift bed. It consisted of a mound of blankets that Jaena had bought for him out of pity and the pillow he had managed to save. The couch seats were used to border the bed. It didn't seem like much, but it was comfortable enough. Lying down, Cell looked at the bare ceiling, this part managing to be spared by the rest of the gunk that had built up over time. Turning to look at the wooden floor, he could see his dirty bed and the dust bunnies and unmentionables underneath it. Janet Harvington, or Jaena, grew closer, Cell seeing her legs coming towards him. He looked up, seeing her looking down at him. 

"You have to take something, or your condition could get worse," she stated matter-of-factly.

"No," said Cell in defiance. He was sick of Earth. It was all the better if he died.

"Cell!" snapped Jaena. "As your guide, I am also responsible for your wellbeing. Now get up and take some medicine," she said, bending down to look at Cell in the face.

Cell sat up, Jaena standing to her full height and looking smug as he did so. As he crawled to the edge of his bed, however, he stopped with his head down. Jaena, still standing in front of him, looked puzzled. Then, in an act of complete defiance, Cell heaved and vomited all over Jaena's shoes, causing the ogress to look completely shocked, her eyes wide as she looked down at her sick-covered shoes.

Huffing, Cell sat up, wiping his mouth. "Take _that_ medicine," he said through huffs, crawling back to the middle of his makeshift bed and flopping down onto his pillow, going to sleep. Meanwhile, Jaena could only think of one thing as she stared down:

"These are my good shoes!!"

* * *

Cell awoke to the sound of knocking, his stomach feeling slightly better. As he sat up, he noticed his school shirt seemed stained with something. Smelling, he noticed it was medicine. It seemed Jaena was smarter than she seemed – force-feeding him the medicine. Either way, it had worked. His stomach was calmer. The knocking came again, coming from his front door. Taking off his shirt and throwing it on the bed, Cell shifted to the side of his makeshift bed. Cringing from the slight pang of pain still revolving around his stomach, Cell then stood, making his way to the front door. With no way to know who was at the front, Cell opened it ever-so-slightly, looking surprised as he saw the three. 

_Oh great…_ mumbled Cell, opening the door. As he stood in the doorway, he looked to all three of them. All three looked back.

"We just wanted to see how you were doing," explained Goten, looking over Cell's head and into the apartment.

"I'm fine," he said bluntly.

"Don't look it," said Trunks.

Cell growled. "What does it take to get you out of here?" asked Cell.

"A look in?" suggested Aisu.

"No," replied Cell.

"Aw c'mon, can't be that bad," said Goten, giving a typical reassuring Son smile.

"No," repeated Cell.

"We brought soup," suggested Aisu, lifting a plastic bag up.

Cell hesitated, feeling his stomach and mouth react to the mentioning of soup. "N-no," he managed to say, causing Aisu to frown.

"Tch, he's probably ashamed of his apartment," said Trunks matter-of-factly, causing Cell to growl in anger as he glared at Trunks. "Well, c'mon guys, let's go." Trunks was about to turn away when a slam sounded from where Cell stood, Cell having opened the door completely. Trunks gave a handsome grin. "Great!" he exclaimed. As all three of them entered, Cell realised what the purple-haired hybrid had done, and cursing to himself, slammed the door of his apartment shut.

* * *

"Wow… your place could use a fixer-upper," said Goten, looking at the kitchen. 

"Or several," added Trunks, looking at the bathroom, or what was supposed to _be_a bathroom.

"Where do you sleep?" asked Aisu, handing Cell the plastic bag containing soup they had bought for him on the way to his apartment. Her expression looked rather uncomfortable.

Cell, holding the soup with one arm, pointed to the makeshift bed at the corner of the room with the other. The vomit had been cleaned, probably from Jaena. His shirt lay discarded there. Cell did not feel much shame walking around shirtless in front of all of them.

"That's your bed?" asked Trunks, looking sceptical.

"No," said Cell. "I sleep there." He then motioned to the other corner of the room. "_That's_ my bed," he said.

Trunks, Goten and Aisu looked gob smacked as they saw the grime-covered bed.

"Was wondering where the smell was coming from…" said Goten swallowing hard. "How do you live here?" he asked, looking to Cell.

"You get used to it," he stated, walking to the kitchen. He had not eaten all day and his stomach was telling him so. Opening the plastic bag, he took out the container and opened it, drinking the soup inside.

"Do you have a microwave?" asked Trunks, looking around the kitchen.

"No," replied Cell, feeling the warmth of the soup go down his throat.

"How about an oven?"

"Nope." Cell's stomach settled as the soup filled his hunger quotient.

"Nothing?" asked Trunks, leaning against the refrigerator.

"I suggest you not do that," said Cell, looking towards the hybrid.

"Wh-"

His question was cut short as a loud bang could be heard from behind Trunks and smoke appeared from behind the refrigerator. Trunks, surprised by the sudden bang, whirled around, seeing the refrigerator smoking. Goten and Aisu looked shocked as Cell continued drinking his soup. As Trunks grabbed the handle of the fridge and opened it, he realised he had broken it as no light came on and the cold that had previously been there evaporated into the apartment room.

"That's why," answered Cell, taking another sip of his soup.


	15. HIS SIDE: The Makeover

**Redemption's Side**

**Disclaimer:**Dragonball Z and all its characters © Akira Toriyama, BIRD STUDIO/SHUEISHA, TOEI Animation. Licensed by FUNimation Production, Ltd. All Rights Reserved

**Disclaimer 2: **All fictional characters © Eileen Ayling Setiawan (author) and any aliases she assumes (H-san, Hina-chan, etc…)

**Author's Note:** This takes place _after_ the first part of Masshiro na Yuki: Pure White Snow, my fanfiction about Kinoko, the female Saiya-jin. It's a filler of sorts.

**Author's Note 2: **This was inspired by vege-chan.

* * *

**HIS SIDE**

**Chapter Fourteen: The Makeover**

* * *

**The Homeless Man:** The Homeless Man (or "Bum" as he is called in the story) plays a major, though not central, role. He was the first human to greet Cell at his neighbourhood with more than a dirty glare or underhanded remark and is possibly the most decent human being on the block. As the Homeless Man, he can be dirty, smelly and a little bit crazy, but he is a loveable guy with a genuine heart-of-gold. After this chapter, his accommodation is made a little more liveable as Cell gives him his old television, which actually works better on ground floor than high above in Cell's apartment, his old couch, and the old bed. The Homeless Man also has Cell's old pillows and the stuff from his makeshift bed, though Cell doesn't discover this gift until much later.

* * *

The next day, after school, Cell headed for the BMXpress for his first day of work. That morning, before school, he had found his gear on the kitchen table. More than likely, Jaena had bought it, knowing Cell would refuse to buy something ridiculous. Before going to work, Jaena had then forced the gear onto Cell, Cell screaming profanity much like when she had stripped him of his clothes before forcing him in the shower. Finally reaching the familiar courier building, Cell merely stared at it, a look of dread on his face. His heart then skipped a beat as someone blew on his ear from behind. Whirling around, he came face-to-face with the small boy known as Ulya. Ulya smiled at him.

"Hello there," he said. "Are you going to enter?" he gestured to the building.

Cell, who found the boy creepy at the very least, stared between him and the building. After some silence, Ulya continued to speak: "After you."

Cell grimaced down at the boy, unmoving. The boy, however, continued to stare at Cell through emotionless, unblinking eyes. Slowly, Cell then turned around and entered the building. Walking in, Cell could feel the anger boiling in his stomach at being pushed around by the younger, much younger, boy, and upon entering, Cell whirled around to give lip to the young boy, eyes widening as he found the boy gone.

"I'm over here," came his voice from Cell's left.

Cell, once again, whirled around to get face-to-face with Ulya, wondering how the boy managed to disappear and reappear so easily. Ulya looked at Cell expectantly. When Cell, once again, could not say anything, Ulya nodded towards his gear. "It looks very nice on you Jinzouningen-san," he commented. He then turned and… floated away.

Cell stood dumbstruck at the entrance, wondering why that boy had such a strange power over him. Growling in frustration, he then walked to his locker, Locker 96, grumbling about stupid boys, ogres, gods and everything else.

Work finished, Cell looked at the envelope in his hand. Apparently, the workers got paid their paycheck at the end of the work day instead of the usual week. It didn't matter Cell at all however as he flipped through the green paper.

"That should settle a bike, doncha think? Or do you need to pay for something else?" came the voice of that girl, Romana.

Cell turned with the usual irritated look on his face. Romana smiled at him, unfazed by the look. "I can do whatever the hell I want with this," replied Cell.

Romana shrugged. "I'm just giving you some advice. The bike you're using is old, and let's face it, hard to pedal. Your shins must be sore."

Cell remained glaring, though that human part of him instilled via Yama was aching, his body's shins burning from the sheer amount of force, exertion and energy consumed just to push the bike from location-to-location. Cell told himself he was only doing the job for the yen, though a part of him knew it was because, secretly, Jaena could be a scary ogress when confronted…

"I don't need your advice," repeated Cell, trying to ignore the thoughts crossing his mind. "Goodbye." With that, Cell turned and walked out of the building, hearing Romana yell:

"SERU HAS LEFT THE BUILDING!!"

* * *

Seeing the usual decrepit building he called home, Cell walked to the front door, though was stopped as someone grabbed his shoulder. Cell was about to smack said someone in the face for touching him but stopped as the familiar smell of unwashed breath and sour urine filled his nostrils. The itinerant man that lived in the alleyways of Cell's building had grabbed him, smiling his stained teeth at him.

"Yo man," he greeted amiably.

Cell did not reply, merely staring at him and trying not to gag. The man ignored his expression, even going so far as to not recognising it as disgust, and turned to the building, looking up. Cell looked up also, seeing the destitute man was looking up at his apartment.

"Some purple-haired dude and his two friends went into your apartment I think. They've been lugging stuff down into the street. S'ok if I take some? Your television looks purty good."

Cell's eyes widened as he realised what the man was saying, and snatching his shoulder away from the man's raggedy-gloved hand, bolted into the apartment building.

"I'LL TAKE THAT AS A YES, MAN!" heard Cell as he made his way to the stairs and up to his apartment floor.

* * *

Reaching his floor, exhausted and his shins burning more than before, Cell looked livid as he saw many men in his apartment, wearing work wear bearing the Capsule Corporation insignia. He could hear indistinct voices in his apartment, saying indistinct words. However, as he neared his apartment room, he then heard the familiar voice of the purple-haired hybrid Saiya-jin yelling orders to the men inside. Meanwhile, Aisu sat on the counter of the kitchen, Goten standing nearby as he leaned on the table. Upon Cell entering, Goten turned and greeted the owner of the apartment.

"_What_ is going on?" asked Cell, his voice dangerously low.

Goten laughed, walking over. "Trunks-kun felt so guilty he decided your apartment needed a makeover!" he chirped, smacking Cell on the back, causing the green-haired now-human man to go sprawling onto the floor from the sheer force of Goten's unrestrained smack. Goten laughed again, a nervous one, as he chimed: "Eh, I dunno my own strength."

Cell, sprawled on the floor, got to his hands and knees, his face contorted in frustration at his weakness and rage at the current situation as he sarcastically mumbled through gritted teeth: "Yeah, I bet…" As he got up, Goten trying to assist him, Cell looked to Trunks, who had just told two workers to grab the fetid, soiled bed. Trunks then turned as Goten made his best friend aware of the apartment owner's presence. Trunks gave a smile and saluted Cell as he saw him, unable to recognise the angry look on Cell's face.

"Yo Seru. I felt bad, so I decided to –"

"Makeover my apartment?" asked Cell, trying to keep his voice restrained.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" asked Trunks, grinning.

"Your dolt of a best friend here told me," answered Cell, still restraining his voice.

Goten looked slightly insulted at the remark whilst Trunks gave a chuckle. "It needed one anyway," he answered. "Your bed's literally full of crap and I have no idea if that couch and television are even useable."

"I. Don't. Need. _ANY_. Of. Your. Damn. Hospitality!" spat Cell, punctuating each word.

Trunks laughed. "Too late buddy. All loaded in." Trunks jabbed his thumb behind him, signalling to the scattered furniture and appliances laying about the apartment. "We just need to install my good stuff in and toss your crap out."

Cell opened his mouth to say something, though Trunks had already turned to the workers, who were busy inspecting the dirtied bed. Goten had walked up beside Trunks, standing and watching the workers. Cell felt his anger mounting at being ignored, but a tap on the shoulder had him face-to-face with Aisu. She smiled at him, a reassuring smile.

"You gotta calm down Seru. They mean well, really," explained Aisu.

Cell, feeling a wave of defeat come over him, resigned to his fate as he growled and crossed his arms in a display of stubbornness. He merely watched as the workers grabbed the bed, disgusted looks on their faces. They were wearing gloves, and Cell had a feeling they would be burning those later.

"Where do you want us to put this, Briefs-san?" asked one worker as the other tried not to involuntarily gag.

Trunks was about to tell them to do the sensible thing and carry it down the stairs, though Cell interrupted him with: "Chuck it out the window."

All eyes turned to the owner of the apartment, eyes wide.

"What?" snapped Trunks looking livid. "You can't do that. What if it –"

"There's no one living out there but that homeless bum," interrupted Cell, finding comfort in retorting to Trunks' protests. It made him feel just that bit superior. "Just throw it out the window. He doesn't even live on my side of this damn building."

The workers exchanged glances, but shrugging, and wanting any excuse to get rid of the dirtied, rancid-smelling bed, shuffled over to the window, much to Trunks' protests, and threw it out. The room went silent, all ears straining to hear the sound of a man screaming. All they heard was a crash as the bed collided with the cement floor of the alleyway. Trunks, Goten and Aisu walked to the window, Cell sauntering over soon after. All four looked down, seeing the bed in a heap, the frame broken but, miraculously, the mattress still intact, despite the waste that still clung to it. They then saw a man round the alley corner, seeing the bed.

"Ah, here we go," mumbled Trunks, a worried expression crossing his handsome features.

However, his expression changed to surprise as the man looked up at them, both Trunks and Goten's slightly-more-than perfect vision seeing him grinning up at them. The other two saw the small figure waving. All four of them heard: "Thanks man!"

"See," exclaimed Cell, rounding and going back to where he had previously been standing. "No problem."

The workers, who were now sweeping the area that had once been below Cell's now-gone bed, looked up at Trunks as he told them to pick up the couch. The workers walked over to the couch but stopped as they saw how it looked – stained in something red.

"Sir… Briefs-san…" began the workers.

"Ah c'mon," interrupted Trunks, looking sceptical. "Can't be _that_ bad!"

The workers once again exchanged glances, but following orders, went on either side of the couch and picked it up. They screamed and dropped the couch as what seemed like hundreds of insects crawled out from underneath it, going this way and that. Upon seeing the horde of insects Aisu screamed just as the workers did and jumped on the nearest person – that being Goten.

"Cockroach!" screamed Aisu. "Kill it, kill it!!"

Cell looked down, seeing the bugs crawling this way and that. Trunks was also looking down, a disgusted expression on his face but otherwise unaffected. Most of the insects crawled into small niches in the walls, escaping, but one particular insect, the same that had caused Aisu to jump in fear, was still crawling this way and that, confused at the sudden loss of its home. As it crawled towards Cell, he lifted his leg to stomp on it but was beaten to the punch as Trunks stamped down on it, the roach dying with a sickening crunch. He then made a sound of disgust as he rubbed his shoe on Cell's apartment floor, mumbling about the shoes he was currently wearing being new.

"S-sir," began a worker, developing a stutter after his previous run-in with the "attack of the bugs". "W-we're sorry, but we can't wo-work in th-these conditions."

Trunks sighed, scratching his chin. "Ok, fine then," he sighed. "Go home. Thanks for doing what you've done. I'll send your paycheck via mail."

The workers bowed then made a visible retreat as they exited the building. Now just four people remained – Trunks, Goten, Aisu and Cell. Trunks stared at the couch. "Well, looks like it's me and you Goten," said Trunks.

Goten shrugged. "No problems there. Don't mind getting my hands dirty," said Goten, smiling genially at Trunks. Walking to one end of the couch, Goten waited for his best friend to go to the other end, which he did. However, as Goten bent down and grabbed one end, Trunks looked a little uncertain.

"Is that blood?" asked Trunks as he finally got a closer look at the couch.

"Probably…" answered Cell.

"Wh-what?" asked Trunks, looking surprised.

"Hurry up!" whined Goten.

Trunks made a face, but grabbed hold of the other end. However, as both lifted the couch up, Trunks let go, his face contorted in shock. For a split second, Cell saw the couch single-handedly being carried by Goten only, though Goten made sure to slacken his strength on the couch and let it drop to the floor.

"Trunks-kun!" yelled Goten, standing up straight as he glared at Trunks.

"Th-there's a chalk-outline there!" remarked Trunks, pointing to the couch.

"What?" asked Aisu, looking just as surprised.

Trunks grabbed the couch, pulling it backwards to reveal just what he had said. A chalk-outline of a person lay on the floor, arms and legs sprawled. It seemed the gaps between the floorboards were stained with red blood.

"What the Hell?" exclaimed Aisu, eyes wide.

All three people in the room turned to Cell, who looked at all three sceptically. "What? I only got the apartment a few weeks ago."

"Damn, Seru. It's no wonder the rent is next-to-nothing and the facilities are crap. Your living in a friggen serial killer's apartment!" exclaimed Trunks, looking slightly horrified.

"I think that's pretty cool," commented Goten, smiling slightly.

Trunks glared at Goten. "You would," he said, shaking his head.

Goten looked defensive. "What?" he exclaimed, looking between the three.

"Hurry it up," snapped Cell, getting sick of the two Saiya-jins and their constant tangents and bickering.

Trunks held his hands up defensively as he said: "Yo, Seru, I'm not touching a damn couch that's probably been used for murder, torture or worse…"

Cell glared at Trunks, though Trunks remained unswayed as he walked away from the couch and towards Aisu. Cell growled, a low frustrated growl, and walked to where Trunks was previously standing. "Damn Saiya-jin," he muttered as he grabbed the other end, Goten more than willing to help his fellow classmate. As both hoisted the couch up, Cell in awe at how heavy the couch seemed, both teenagers lugged it over to the window.

"Again?" asked Trunks, looking incredulous. "What if he's down there?"

"He'll be fine," snapped Cell, hoisting his end of the couch on the windowsill. He then let go, grabbing hold of the side and tugging it out, where Goten managed to let go of his end in time. The couch fell, another crash resounding just like the bed before it. Once again, all four looked down to inspect the damage. The couch's right hand side was crushed in, but the left, like the mattress, remained miraculously intact. As it had crashed to the floor, it had fallen over, once again in its neutral position. It had missed the bed by inches. The homeless man, whom had crossed around to the front of the building during their tossing, came around once again, Trunks and Goten seeing an expression of joy on the man's face.

"Thanks man!" he said once again, waving up towards them.

Cell walked back to where the couch once was followed by Trunks. As he returned, he saw the unmistakeable print of a human body outline on his wood-decked floor. It wasn't chalked in, as Trunks had stated, but sprayed in with white aerosol. Trunks was inspecting the print, a hand stroking his chin.

"Looks like you might need new decking too." Cell glared at Trunks, who grinned back. "I'm just saying, Seru. I mean – I don't think any amount of bleach – industrial or otherwise – can clean the blood between the boards. You've got a biological hazard there."

At that moment, the two walked back from the window, having stayed there for quite some time longer than Trunks and Cell. Goten had his hands behind his head as he said something to Aisu, who smiled back nodding, though their conversation was interrupted as Cell said:

"Can you get out now?"

The three looked to him sceptically, Goten voicing all of their opinions:

"Oh c'mon Cell. Where's your excitement? We're gonna install your new stuff in!"

"I don't need new stuff!" snapped Cell. "That thing in the corner is perfectly fine!!" However, as Cell looked over to the corner, he found the makeshift bed gone. Eyes wide, he looked around for the pillows, blankets and couch cushions. They were nowhere to be found.

"Ah yeah," began Trunks. "About that…"

"_What._ Did you do. To my _BED_?"

"Well, it really wasn't a bed," defended Trunks. "It was more like a –"

"Cubby house?" suggested Goten.

"Exactly!" exclaimed Trunks. "A cubby house!!"

"WHERE THE HELL AM I GONNA SLEEP NOW!?" barked Cell, feeling the urge to punch the purple-haired son of Vegeta in the face.

"You can sleep over at one of our houses," suggested Goten, grinning.

"NO!" said Cell stubbornly. "I want to sleep here. This is my _goddamned_ apartment and I'm sleeping. In. Here!"

Both Trunks and Goten held their hands up defensively, feeling a spike of power that seemed _extremely_ familiar. Was that Gohan?

"Seru, its ok," reassured Aisu. "Plus we gotta get your plumbing fixed as well. Your apartment reeks to high heaven."

"Exactly," agreed Trunks. "Plumber'll be coming over any minute now. We can't have you sleeping in a bilgy apartment."

"Bilgy?" asked Cell, looking livid.

"We gotta fix your plumbing Seru. Install new and cleaner stuff. Don't worry, I'll pay for everything," reassured Trunks, believing Cell's tantrums were probably connected to his destitute lifestyle.

"I don't give a _damn_ about money. Why the Hell are you helping me anyway? It's just one fridge. One goddamned fridge!" snapped Cell, he then added with a smirk: "You should break more of my damn stuff."

Goten laughed. "That's more like it," he quipped. "Trunks-kun's got money coming outta his ears."

Trunks didn't like the way the conversation was going and quickly changed as he cleared his throat and said: "Well, who're you gonna stay with tonight? Goten lives five hours from Satan City. He usually – " Trunks paused momentarily. " – walks home. I live in the Western Capital. It'll probably take a little more but I got a car so it'll cut the journey in half."

Cell glared, stating: "I'm not going to stay at anyone's home. I'd rather sleep on the floor."

"Ew… but your apartment is rat-infested and cockroach-infested. What if they crawl in you and lay their eggs in your mouth? What if you actually _swallow_ it?" asked Aisu, looking mortified at the thought.

Cell went silent, the human side of him revolted at the idea. It was broken as Trunks' phone rang, Trunks excusing himself and walking to the corridor of Cell's apartment. Meanwhile, Cell collected his thoughts and gave a firm: "No. I'm staying here."

Walking back inside, and having heard Cell's persistence in staying in the wreck of an apartment, Trunks sighed. "Whatever. We'll figure it out later. She's downstairs, coming up now."

"She?" asked Cell, eyebrow cocking in scepticism.

* * *

**Seru Jinzouningen / Cell Tally System:**

II


End file.
